This is soooo . . . CDCish
Infections cause large share of cancers worldwide
7/7/06
Reuters Health
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A handful of viruses, bacteria and parasites is responsible for nearly one fifth of cancers worldwide, according to new estimates.
In 2002, 17.9 percent of cancer cases worldwide were caused by infections ranging from HIV to the ulcer bug Helicobacter pylori, according to a report in the International Journal of Cancer.
If these infections could be prevented, many cases of cancer -- more than one quarter in developing nations -- would be avoided, reports author Dr. Donald Maxwell Parkin of the University of Oxford in the UK.
According to Parkin, 1.9 million cases of cancer in 2002 could be attributed to infections. At the top of the list was H. pylori, an ulcer-causing bacterium that can also contribute to stomach cancer. Parkin estimates that it was responsible for 5.5 percent of all cancers worldwide in 2002.
Close behind H. pylori are the human papilloma viruses (HPV) and the hepatitis B and C viruses, which cause hepatitis, according to the researcher.
HPV causes genital warts and certain strains of the virus are responsible for most cases of cervical cancer. An HPV vaccine recently became available, and experts have recommended that girls as young as 11 years old receive this vaccine
Hepatitis B and C virus infections cause 85.5 percent of liver cancers worldwide, according to Parkin. The impact is particularly acute in developing nations, where 92 percent of liver cancers can be traced to hepatitis, versus 42 percent in developed countries.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) accounted for 1 percent of cancers in 2002, Parkin estimates.
Most people have been infected with EBV, and thereafter it usually remains dormant in the body. However, in some individuals it is related to Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and nasopharyngeal cancer.
HIV infection damages the immune system, leading to a cancers variety of cancers including lymphoma, Kaposi's sarcoma and cervical cancer. According to Parkin, there were more than 102,000 cases of HIV-associated Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphoma in 2002.
He estimates that if these and a handful of other viral and parasitic infections could be prevented, there would be 26 percent fewer cancers diagnosed in developing nations each year, and 8 percent fewer in developed countries.
Along with the HPV vaccine, there is a vaccine against hepatitis B that's now routinely given to babies in many countries. More research is needed, Parkin concludes, to figure out the best ways to prevent all infection-related cancers.
SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, June 15, 2006.
Infections cause large share of cancers worldwide
7/7/06
Reuters Health
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A handful of viruses, bacteria and parasites is responsible for nearly one fifth of cancers worldwide, according to new estimates.
In 2002, 17.9 percent of cancer cases worldwide were caused by infections ranging from HIV to the ulcer bug Helicobacter pylori, according to a report in the International Journal of Cancer.
If these infections could be prevented, many cases of cancer -- more than one quarter in developing nations -- would be avoided, reports author Dr. Donald Maxwell Parkin of the University of Oxford in the UK.
According to Parkin, 1.9 million cases of cancer in 2002 could be attributed to infections. At the top of the list was H. pylori, an ulcer-causing bacterium that can also contribute to stomach cancer. Parkin estimates that it was responsible for 5.5 percent of all cancers worldwide in 2002.
Close behind H. pylori are the human papilloma viruses (HPV) and the hepatitis B and C viruses, which cause hepatitis, according to the researcher.
HPV causes genital warts and certain strains of the virus are responsible for most cases of cervical cancer. An HPV vaccine recently became available, and experts have recommended that girls as young as 11 years old receive this vaccine
Hepatitis B and C virus infections cause 85.5 percent of liver cancers worldwide, according to Parkin. The impact is particularly acute in developing nations, where 92 percent of liver cancers can be traced to hepatitis, versus 42 percent in developed countries.
Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) accounted for 1 percent of cancers in 2002, Parkin estimates.
Most people have been infected with EBV, and thereafter it usually remains dormant in the body. However, in some individuals it is related to Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and nasopharyngeal cancer.
HIV infection damages the immune system, leading to a cancers variety of cancers including lymphoma, Kaposi's sarcoma and cervical cancer. According to Parkin, there were more than 102,000 cases of HIV-associated Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphoma in 2002.
He estimates that if these and a handful of other viral and parasitic infections could be prevented, there would be 26 percent fewer cancers diagnosed in developing nations each year, and 8 percent fewer in developed countries.
Along with the HPV vaccine, there is a vaccine against hepatitis B that's now routinely given to babies in many countries. More research is needed, Parkin concludes, to figure out the best ways to prevent all infection-related cancers.
SOURCE: International Journal of Cancer, June 15, 2006.
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