Hepatitis B Vaccine Shown To Reduce Liver Cancer Risk

Miami, FL (AHN) – A 20-year follow-up study suggests a dramatic drop in liver cancer cases among children who were vaccinated against hepatitis B at birth.

The study was conducted by researchers at the National Taiwan University Hospital using data collected from almost 2,000 patients with liver cancer who were between 6 to 9 years old when they were diagnosed. The patients were diagnosed between the years 1983 and 2004.

Sixty four cases of hepatocellular carcinoma were found among almost “38 million person-years” compared to 444 cancers among unvaccinated people in “almost 80 million person-years,” the researchers said in a statement.

Universal vaccination against the hepatitis B virus was started in Taiwan in 1984. The virus can predispose people to liver cancer.

The study is published in the Sept. 16 online edition of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Related posts:

1. Vitamin D Could Significantly Reduce Heart Disease, Stroke Risk
2. Exercise In Older Women Linked With Lower Breast Cancer Risk
3. Weight Gain Influences Prostate Cancer Risk
4. New Procedure Offers Hope To Esophageal Cancer Patients
5. Low-Income Women Less Likely To Survive Breast Cancer