THURSDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) — Popular
cholesterol-lowering statins may also lower risk for liver cancer among
people with hepatitis B, a new study shows. Hepatitis B, an inflammation
of the liver due to the hepatitis B virus, is one of the main causes of
liver cancer.

This is not the first time that statins have shown promise in reducing
risk for cancer. Other studies have hinted that these drugs may play a
role in preventing certain types of cancer, including breast cancer.

In the new study of more than 33,000 individuals with hepatitis B
followed from 1997 to 2008, those who took a statin were less likely to
develop liver cancer, when compared to participants who were not
prescribed statins. What’s more, the longer a person took statins, the
greater the liver-cancer risk reduction. Study participants were
prescribed the statins to treat high cholesterol levels. Overall, 1,021
people developed liver cancer during the study period.

More research is needed to see how statins may lower liver cancer risk
among people with hepatitis B, the researchers said.

“Statins have potential protective effects against cancers [and]
carriers of hepatitis B virus infection have a substantial risk of [liver]
carcinoma,” said Dr. Pau-Chung Chen, a professor of environmental medicine
and epidemiology at National Taiwan University, in Taipei. “Statin use is
not only a benefit to preventing cardiovascular diseases, but also an
additional, convenient and acceptable strategy for preventing
hepatocellular carcinoma,” or liver cancer, Chen said.

However, statins can cause a potentially dangerous rise in liver
enzymes and liver damage. Regular liver function tests are required for
all people who take statins.

The study appeared online Jan. 23 in the Journal of Clinical
Oncology.

“This is exciting and unequivocally solid research,” said Dr. Eugene
Schiff, a professor of medicine and director of the Center for Liver
Diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

“One of the issues is that statins are relatively contraindicated in
people with liver disease,” Schiff said. But “the take-home message for
people with hepatitis B or anybody with liver disease is that statins are
safe. This re-emphasizes the point that if someone has chronic hepatitis B
and there is an indication for statins, they should get them and they may
be beneficial far beyond lowering cholesterol: They may also reduce their
risk for liver cancer.”

Dr. David Bernstein, chief of hepatology at North Shore University
Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Manhasset, N.Y., is more
cautious. “In almost all other liver conditions, cirrhosis must be present
before [liver cancer] develops,” he said. During cirrhosis, scar tissue
replaces healthy liver tissue. “Statins must be used with caution in
patients with cirrhosis, which can limit their use in patients with liver
disease at risk of developing liver cancer,” he said. “Further studies are
needed in this patient population to confirm these findings.”

More information

For information on

hepatitis B , visit the U.S. National Digestive Diseases
Information Clearinghouse.

Copyright © 2012HealthDay. All rights reserved.

WEDNESDAY, July 27 (HealthDay News) — About 10 million injection
drug users worldwide have hepatitis C, and 1.3 million have hepatitis B, a
new study reports.

Hepatitis can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer.

Researchers analyzed international data and found that rates of
hepatitis C infection among injection drug users (IDUs) were 60 to 80
percent in 25 countries and greater than 80 percent in 12 other countries.

These countries included Spain (80 percent), Norway (76 percent),
Germany (75 percent), France (74 percent), United States (73 percent),
China (67 percent), Canada (64 percent), Italy (81 percent), Portugal (83
percent), Pakistan (84 percent), the Netherlands (86 percent), Thailand
(90 percent) and Mexico (97 percent).

Lower rates were seen in New Zealand (52 percent), Australia (55
percent) and the United Kingdom (50 percent), the researchers noted.

The countries believed to have the largest number of IDUs infected with
hepatitis C virus (HCV) are China (1.6 million), the United States (1.5
million) and Russia (1.3 million), the investigators found.

Rates of hepatitis B infection were 5 to 10 percent in 21 countries and
more than 10 percent in 10 countries. The highest rates were in Vietnam
(20 percent), Estonia (19 percent), Saudi Arabia (18 percent) and Taiwan
(17 percent). The United Kingdom had the highest rate in Western Europe
at 9 percent. The rate in the United States was 12 percent.

The study, released to coincide with World Hepatitis Day, is published
online July 28 in The Lancet.

“The public-health response to blood-borne virus transmission in IDUs
has mainly centered on HIV. Maintenance and strengthening of the response
to HIV in IDUs remains crucial, but the significance of viral hepatitis
needs to receive greater attention than it does at present,” Paul Nelson,
from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of
New South Wales in Sydney, and colleagues wrote.

“Efforts to prevent, treat, and reduce harms related to liver disease
in IDUs are essential — especially in situations in which HIV has
successfully been prevented or managed — because the large numbers of
IDUs infected with HCV and significant morbidity resulting from this
infection mean that the health and economic costs of HCV transmitted by
injected drug use might be as high as (or higher than) those of HIV,” the
authors added.

“Nonetheless, HCV treatment is underused. Part of the reason for this
neglect is the high cost, which will remain a substantial barrier to
increasing of treatment coverage in low-resource settings until costs are
reduced,” the researchers concluded.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases has more about viral hepatitis.

Copyright © 2011HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Nine Asia Pacific countries will not meet a 2012 target to reduce hepatitis B infections among children, according to the World Health Organization which plans to intensify its fight against the disease.

Nine out of 10 remain chronically infected for the rest of their lives because their immune systems are undeveloped, which can lead to liver cirrhosis and then liver cancer later on.

But a WHO expert said the goal of reducing infection rates among children to below 2 percent by 2012 will not be met in Cambodia, Kiribati, Laos, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Vietnam.

“These nine countries don’t look like they are going to make the 2 percent goal,” said Karen Hennessey, technical officer for WHO’s expanded program on hepatitis B immunization.

Hennessey, who spoke by telephone from Manila, said infection rates among children in these countries were around 8 percent before vaccination programs were introduced at different times starting from the 1980s.

While infection rates have fallen to about 3 to 4 percent, these programs have stalled because of the lack of technical expertise and training, or money, she said.

China is one of the exceptions with infection rates among its children down dramatically in the last five years to below 2 percent due to a successful vaccination program, Hennessey said. However, it still has a huge 10 percent pool of infected adults.

Hepatitis B, which is 50 to 100 times more infectious than HIV, is mostly passed from mother to child when the mother’s infected blood comes into contact with open wounds on her newborn during delivery. But a vaccine given within the first 24 hours of birth can prevent infection.

To renew efforts to fight the virus, WHO wants to push a three-pronged approach, which includes getting more pregnant women to deliver in healthcare facilities so that their babies can be immunized soon after delivery.

“If it’s very difficult to get women into hospitals, either because (their homes are) remote or very poor, the other possibility is to make sure there is a skilled attendant at every birth … who are trained to give vaccine within 24 hours,” Hennessy said.

The WHO will also help with providing training, she said.

“It is important to get that first dose within 24 hours. But it’s not clear. Is it the first hour, first three hours? Who is responsible? Who writes it down? That is enough for people to not want to do it. There has to be training,” she said.

About 2 billion people worldwide have been infected by this virus and 350 million of them live with chronic infection. About 600,000 people die each year from the virus, which is also passed through sexual contact and unclean needles. Apart from hepatitis B, other common forms of hepatitis are A, C and E.

(Reporting by Tan Ee Lyn; Editing by Sugita Katyal)