( s open wounds and sexual contact amo...)Risk of lymphoma increases with hepatitis C virus infection

"Although the risk of developing lymphomas is small, our research suggests that screening of HCV-infected individuals could identify conditions which may lead to cancer. It might then be possible to prevent progression to lymphoma," said investigator Eric A. Engels, M.D., from the Viral Epidemiology Branch of NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics. "More research is needed to further clarify the relationship between HCV infection and lymphoma."

In the United States, there are more than 4.1 million people living with hepatitis C virus infection -- about 1.6 percent of the population. In 2007, it is estimated that 71,380 Americans will be diagnosed with some type of lymphoma, which will take 19,730 lives.

The researchers note that this study was limited to military veterans who used the VA system, so the results may not be applicable to the overall U.S. population. The study population was mostly men (97 percent), the majority of patients were white, and the average age was 52 years. Patients in the HCV-infected group were more likely to have served during the Vietnam era (1964-1975) than were uninfected patients in the comparison group.

Previous studies found that the prevalence of HCV infection is much higher among U.S. veterans who use the VA medical system (5 percent) than in the general population, where only 1.6 percent carry the virus. Several factors have likely contributed to this higher prevalence, including demographics, socioeconomic status, and particularly a history of injection drug use or blood transfusions received before 1990, when screening for hepatitis C virus was started.