The first-of-its-kind finding was made by researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center.
They found that exposure to the hepatitis B virus (HBV) may increase the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. About 37,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer every year and more than 34,000 people die of the disease each year, according to the American Cancer Society.
"If this study is validated, it will give us more information about the risk factors of pancreatic cancer and possibly even help prevent it in some cases," said lead author Manal Hassan, M.D., Ph.D., assistant professor in M. D. Anderson's Department of Gastrointestinal Medical Oncology.
Because few of the risk factors for pancreatic cancer are known, and it is often diagnosed in the late stages, making it more deadly.
Researchers also discovered that when patients with pancreatic cancer also had HBV, that treating the cancer with chemotherapy often reactivates their HBV.
This study has broad implications because HBV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are major global health problems, which affect about 2 percent of humans worldwide. In the United States 1.25 million people have chronic HBV, while 3.2 million have chronic HCV.
Both are systemic viruses that can harm the body in several ways. One of those is by traveling through the bloodstream and damaging tissues throughout the body.
The word "hepatitis" means "inflammation of the liver." Previous research has shown HBV and HCV are major causes of liver cancer, but little is known about their roles in other cancers, Anderson said in a statement. She added, the liver and pancreas are close together in the body and share common blood vessels and ducts, which make the pancreas a potential target for hepatitis viruses.
Anderson's study is published in the Oct. 1 edition of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
