Focus
Deaths from liver cancer
nearly double since 1990s
“ out Globally,
two
of three
liver cancer
deaths are
caused by
hepatitis B or
C.
New data reveals that
deaths caused by liver
cancer have increased
by 80% over the past
two decades, making
it one of the fastest-
growing causes
of cancer deaths
worldwide.
On World Cancer Day (4
February), we’re highlighting the
12 hep Voice January/February 2018
deadly link between viral hepatitis
and liver cancer.
According to the Global Burden
of Disease Study, the most
comprehensive worldwide
observational epidemiological
study to date, 830,000 people
died as a result of the disease
in 2016 compared to 464,000
people in 1990. This makes liver
cancer the second leading cause
of cancer deaths worldwide, after
lung cancer.
Globally, two out of three liver
cancer deaths are caused by
hepatitis B or C. The Western
Pacific and South East Asia
regions record the largest
numbers of people living with
the viruses and also some of
the highest cases of liver cancer
deaths globally. In China alone,
over 260,000 liver cancer deaths
caused by hepatitis B and C were
recorded in 2016, accounting for
a third of the global liver cancer
death toll.
According to the findings, the
hepatitis C virus was responsible
for 160,000 liver deaths in 2016.
The USA was amongst the top
three countries with the highest
numbers, alongside Japan and
China. The American Cancer
Society suggests this is because
of the high rate of hepatitis C
infection among baby boomers
(born between 1945 through
1965), of which prevalence is
approximately 2.6%, a rate 6-fold
greater than that of other adults
in the USA. Highly-effective cures
for hepatitis C do exist which can
halt progression to liver cancer,
however only 3 of the 71 million
people living with the virus
globally, have accessed these life-
saving treatments in the last two
”
years.
The study also found that 350,000
liver cancer deaths were caused
by the hepatitis B virus, of which
China and India accounted for
80% of these. The high majority
of these deaths could have been
prevented if people received the
hepatitis B vaccination after birth.
Today, only 52% of countries
provide the hepatitis B birth dose
vaccine to newborns.
January/February 2018 13
hep Voice