Lifestyle changes and vaccination ‘could prevent most liver cancer cases’ | Cancer
Three cases of in five liver cancer could be avoided by reducing alcohol obesity and consumption and the increase in the absorption of hepatitis vaccine, a study revealed.
The Lancet Commission on liver cancer revealed that most of the cases were avoidable if alcohol consumption, liver disease and levels of viral hepatitis B and C were reduced.
The Commission has set out several recommendations for political decision -makers who, according to them, could reduce the impact of liver cancer cases from 2% to 5% each year by 2050, preventing 9 m to 17m from new cases of liver cancer and saving 8 to 15 million lives.
Professor Jian Zhou at Fudan University in China, who led research, said: “Liver cancer is a growing health problem worldwide. It is one of the most difficult to treat cancers, with five -year survival rates ranging from around 5% to 30%. We are likely to see near a dubbing of cases and deaths due to liver cancer in the next quarter without urgent action to reverse this trend.
Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the world and the third cause of cancer death. The number of deaths should go from 760,000 to 2022 to 1.37 million in 2050.
Previous analyzes predicted that the number of new liver cancer will double almost 870,000 in 2022 to 1.52 m in 2050, mainly due to population growth and aging populations, with the most important increases expected in Africa. Currently, more than 40% of the world’s world cancer cases occur in China because of its relatively high rates of hepatitis B infections.
One of the causes of liver cancer that knows the fastest growth in the world is fatty liver disease, which should increase due to the increase in obesity rates.
It is estimated that a third of the world’s population suffering from a steatotic liver disease associated with metabolic dysfunction (MASLD) – previously known by the name of non -alcoholic liver disease, where fat accumulates in a person’s liver – although it can be awake by consuming a balanced diet, being physically active and potentially losing weight.
Only 20% to 30% of people with MASLDs continue to develop the most serious form and the steatohepatitis associated with metabolic dysfunction (Mash), which can cause liver cancer. The Commission said that the proportion of liver cancer cases associated with Mash should drop from 8% in 2022 to 11% in 2050.
The second cause for the fastest growth is alcohol, with associated liver cases which should drop from 19% in 2022 to 21% in 2050. On the other hand, the proportion of cases of liver cancer linked to hepatitis B should go from 39% in 2022 to 37% in 2050, while cases related to hepatitis C are projected from 29% to 26%.
The author of the Professor Hachem B El-Serag commission of the Baylor College of Medicine in the United States said: “Liver cancer was formerly supposed to occur mainly in patients with viral hepatitis or alcohol-related liver disease. However, today, obesity increase rates are a growing risk factor in liver cancer, mainly due to the increase in the event of the liver. ”
Commission’s recommendations understood that governments stimulate vaccination by VHB and implement universal screening for adults; Introduce the minimum prices of the alcohol unit and sugar taxes as well as warning labels; Invest in early detection of liver damage and cancer; And improve palliative care for people affected.
The author of the Commission, Professor Valéririe Paradis of the Beaujon Hospital in France, said: “It is urgent to raise awareness of society on the severity of the growing health problem of the increase in cases of liver cancer.
“Compared to other cancers, liver cancer is very difficult to treat but has more distinct risk factors, which helps define specific prevention strategies. With joint and continuous efforts, we believe that many cases of liver cancer can be avoided, and the survival and quality of liver cancer patients will be considerably improved. “
Dr. Matt Hoare, an associate professor in hepatology at the Institute Anticipated Cancer of the University of Cambridge, said that liver cancer was “contrary to many other cancers” in that the mortality rate increased, the causes varying according to the region.
He said that changes in public health policy has proven to be effective because Japan had succeeded in reducing its mortality rate by implementing preventive policies and improving detection to find cancers earlier. His team seeks to identify new ways of identifying patients with a liver disease that will develop cancer by sequencing liver DNA.
