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One in five cancers
in India are being caused by infections with viruses,
bacteria and parasites. Of the 9.5 lakh new cases of cancer in India in 2008, 2
lakh cases were caused by infections.
In comparison, worldwide, 1 in 6 cancers are being
caused by infections. Around 49% cases of Hodgkins
Lymphoma, 77% of liver cancers, 88% of anus cancers, 74%
of Non Hodgkins lymphoma, 70% of cancer cases in the
vagina and half of all penis cancers were due to
infections.
A Lancet study says of the 27 cancers in 184
countries, around 16% were infectionrelated, with the
fraction of cancers related to infection about three
times higher in developing than in developed countries
(22.9% vs 7.4%).
Many infection-related cancers are preventable,
particularly those associated with human
papillomaviruses (HPV), Helicobacter pylori and
hepatitis B (HBV) and C viruses (HCV). These four main
infections are together estimated to be responsible for
1.9 million cases, most of which are gastric, liver and
cervical cancers.
Cervical cancer accounted for around half of the
infection-related burden of cancer in women and in men
liver and gastric cancers accounted for more than 80%.
“Infections with viruses, bacteria, and parasites are
one of the biggest and preventable causes of cancer
worldwide. Application of existing publichealth methods
for infection prevention, such as vaccination, safer
injection practice or antimicrobial treatments could
have a substantial effect on future burden of cancer
worldwide,” said Catherine de Martel and Martyn Plummer
from the International Agency for Research on Cancer,
France, lead authors of the study.
Interestingly, common view is that cancer is a
noncommunicable disease (NCD). The study authors added,
“The 2011 UN high-level meeting on NCD highlighted the
growing global agenda for prevention and control of NCDs.
But although cancer is considered a major NCD, a sizable
proportion of its causation is infectious and simple
non-communicable disease paradigms will not be
sufficient.” Goodarz Danaei from Harvard School of
Public Medicine added, “Their estimates show the
potential for preventive and therapeutic programmes in
less developed countries to significantly reduce the
global burden of cancer and disparities across regions
and countries.”
Scientists identify liver cancer genes
Scientists claim to have identified a number of
new genes frequently mutated in bile duct cancers, a
breakthrough that may pave the way for better
understanding on how the deadly type of liver cancer
develops. A team from the Duke-National University of
Singapore and Khon Kaen University of Thailand says it
has used the latest genomic technologies to identify the
bile duct cancer genes. “This discovery adds depth to
what we currently know about bile duct cancer. We are
now aware of new genes and their effects on bile duct
cancer and we need to examine their biological aspects
to determine how they bring about onset of cancer,” prof
Teh Bin Tean, who led the team, said. |
