Chronic HCV infection increases susceptibility to pancreatic cancer

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection contributes to an increased risk of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), as reported in a retrospective study.

Researchers used data from the Veterans Health Administration and identified veterans with HCV testing documented in the VA or VA-linked Medicare with at least one inpatient or outpatient visit. HCV status was categorized as chronic HCV, exposure to HCV, or no HCV infection. The main outcome was the time to earliest PDAC diagnosis.

Of the 6,330,856 individuals tested for HCV (median age 61.6 years, 92.3 percent male), 246,218 (3.9 percent) had chronic HCV and 209,492 (3.3 percent) were exposed.

A total of 33,451 individuals (0.5 percent) received a PDAC diagnosis over a median follow-up of 5.1 years. Those with vs without HCV were younger at the time of age at diagnosis (median age 65 vs 72.4 years).

Chronic HCV infection was associated with a 76-percent increased risk of early-onset PDAC (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.76, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 1.67–1.86), while HCV exposure was associated with an 18-percent risk increase (aHR, 1.18, 95 percent CI, 1.11–1.25) when compared with no HCV infection.

Of note, the risk of early-onset PDAC was more pronounced for HCV genotype 3 (aHR, 2.02, 95 percent CI, 1.67–2.45) and genotype 1 (aHR, 1.75, 95 percent CI, 1.64–1.87) than for genotype 2 (aHR, 1.35, 95 percent CI, 1.14–1.60) relative to no HCV infection.