In a new study, researchers found that daily aspirin therapy was linked to much lower risk in hepatitis B virus‐related liver cancer.
The finding may help develop new prevention strategies for people at high risk.
Hepatitis B is a viral infection that attacks the liver. It can be contracted through contact with an infected person’s blood or other bodily fluid. The infection can either be acute or chronic.
It is estimated that 240 million people worldwide have chronic HBV.
HBV can develop into cirrhosis (scarring of healthy liver tissue) or hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer).
Liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death worldwide, and HBV is the most prevalent risk factor.
Previous research has shown that daily aspirin could help prevent heart disease and may also help prevent cancer.
In the current study, the team focused on the effect of daily aspirin therapy on prevention of liver cancer.
They conducted a nationwide study to determine if aspirin therapy could, indeed, reduce liver cancer risk.
The team examined medical records from the National Health Insurance Research Database between 1998 and 2012.
This analysis included 204,507 patients with chronic hepatitis B.
They found that the incidence of liver cancer in the group treated with aspirin therapy was much lower than that in the untreated group in five years.
In addition, older age, male gender, cirrhosis, and diabetes were linked to an increased risk of liver cancer. Statin use was linked to a decreased risk.
The team suggests that the findings may help patients with chronic HBV infection to prevent liver cancer.
Antiviral therapy may be important for HBV carriers to reduce their cancer risk.
The lead author of the study is Teng‐Yu Lee, Taichung (Taiwan) Veterans General Hospital.
The study is published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
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