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HCV associated with increased risk for lymphoma in Taiwanese

Taiwanese patients with hepatitis C virus infection have an increased risk for developing lymphoma, according to findings published in Hepatology.

“Because the chance of HCV carriers developing lymphoma is extremely low, a large cohort study is necessary to obtain accurate risk estimation. …We conducted a nationwide population-based cohort study to investigate the association of HCV infection with the development of lymphoid-neoplasms in Taiwan, where HCV infection is rampant,” Jia-Horng Kao, MD, PhD, FAASLD, national chair professor and distinguished professor at the Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University, and colleagues wrote.

Jia-Horng Kao, MD, PhD, FAASLD

The researchers extracted and evaluated data from the National Health Insurance Research Database of patients with HCV who received an inpatient or outpatient diagnosis between 2001 and 2005, and were followed through December 2009. Individuals without HCV found in the database were included in a non-HCV cohort for the study. A total of 11,679 patients were included in the HCV cohort and 46,716 in the non-HCV cohort for the final analyses.

Over the course of follow-up, 36 patients with HCV were diagnosed with lymphoid-neoplasm compared with 83 in the non-HCV group. A majority of the lymphoid-neoplasms were non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL): 75% in the HCV cohort (n = 27) vs. 80% in the non-HCV cohort (n = 66). The incidence rate for any lymphoid-neoplasm was greater in the HCV cohort (48.4 per 100,000 person-years) compared with the non-HCV cohort (22.1 per 100,000 person-years; P < .001). Overall incidence of NHL was greater in the HCV cohort (37 per 100,000 person-years) compared with those in the non-HCV cohort (17.5 per 100,000 person-years; P = .001). Researchers conducted a sensitivity analysis to verify the association between HCV and lymphoid-neoplasms. The incidence rates for any lymphoid-neoplasm remained greater in the HCV cohort (38.4 per 100,000 person-years) compared with the non-HCV cohort (20.5 per 100,000 person-years; P = .0014).

Of all the patients, 8.2% had received interferon-based treatment before lymphoid-neoplasms developed (n = 958). The incidence rate for any lymphoid-neoplasm development was 16 per 100,000 person-years in the treated group compared with 52 per 100,000 person-years in the untreated group, indicating anti-HCV therapy may reduce the risk for lymphoma, according to the researchers.

“This nationwide population-based cohort study with longitudinal follow-up found that HCV infection is associated with a greater risk of lymphoid-neoplasms, especially NHL,” the researchers concluded. “Additional large studies are necessary to explore whether anti-HCV therapy can reduce the incidence of lymphoid-neoplasms.” – by Melinda Stevens

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.