Antiviral treatment can prevent hepatitis B to develop hepatocellular carcinoma -
The researchers found that antiviral therapy may be able to prevent virus hepatitis B to develop under the most common form of liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
This was the conclusion of a study published in the May issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Henry Ford Health System in Detroit investigators, Geisinger Health System in Danville, Pa., And Kaiser Permanente in Honolulu, Hawaii and Portland, Oregon. participated in the study, as well as researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
According to the first of -its-kind analysis of more than 2,0 adult participants with hepatitis B, those treated with antiviral therapy had a significantly lower occurrence of HCC five-year follow-up period. Overall, 3 percent of patients developed HCC during the study period. But patients who received antiviral therapy were 60 percent less likely to develop HCC than untreated patients.
"The results of this study allow us to reassure our patients that we're not just treating their viral levels, but that antiviral therapy can effectively reduce their risk of developing liver cancer," said the principal investigator of the study, Stuart C. Gordon Henry Ford Health System, MD, who worked closely with Henry Ford chief scientific Mei Lu in Detroit.
HCC is most liver cancers in the United States, usually occurs in people 50 years or more and is more common in men. If cancer can not be removed, it is usually fatal within three to six months. In most cases, HCC is caused by scarring in the liver - cirrhosis -. Which may be the result of alcohol abuse, hepatitis B or C, chronic liver inflammation or iron overload
"This study was the first to approach therapy and antiviral efficacy in the prevention of hepatitis B develop liver cancer, "said Joseph Boscarino, Ph.D., principal investigator and researcher for the site Geisinger. "With this information, clinicians can begin to prescribe an antiviral treatment for patients with hepatitis B in order to prevent a common and dangerous form of cancer."
EmoticonEmoticon