Liver Cancer News and Research

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Liver cancer is more common in older people. Over half of people newly diagnosed with liver cancer are age 65 and over. Liver cancer is more common in men than in women. Liver cancer rates are highest among Asians and Pacific Islanders, most likely because of higher prevalence of viral Hepatitis infection. Liver cancer rates are lower among whites than Blacks or Asians and Pacific Islanders. At this time, we do not know exactly what causes cancer of the liver. There are several different types of liver cancer. The most common type is associated with long-term excessive alcoholic beverage use, scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), and Hepatitis B virus or Hepatitis C virus infection. Long-term use of anabolic steroids can also increase the risk of getting liver cancer. Smoking is also believed to increase the risk of getting liver cancer.

Coffee consumption may be associated with a decreased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma

Two new studies in the February 16 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute examine the effects of coffee consumption on the incidence of liver and colorectal cancers. One study found that drinking coffee daily is associated with a decreased risk of liver cancer, while the other found no association between drinking coffee or tea and the risk of colorectal cancer.

15 Feb 2005

Eleventh Edition of the Report on Carcinogens

The Department of Health and Human Services released its Eleventh Edition of the Report on Carcinogens today, adding seventeen substances to the growing list of cancer-causing agents, bringing the total to 246.

31 Jan 2005

Consumption of alcohol the risk of several common cancers

An article appearing in the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis presents definite evidence of these findings amongst other papers as part of an open forum discussion on wine, alcohol, and cardiovascular risk.

19 Jan 2005

Major partnership with National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for Narhex Life Sciences

Australian drug specialist Narhex Life Sciences, has announced a partnership with one of the world’s foremost US medical research centres to evaluate its protease inhibitor Nar DG 35 Prodrug for its activity against Hepatitis C and SARS viruses.

12 Jan 2005

Core promoter mutants of Hepatitis B Virus e Antigen associated with development of fulminant hepatitis and liver cancer

Scientists in Brown Medical School, Providence, USA, have found that core promoter mutants of Hepatitis B Virus e Antigen replicate at up to 10-fold higher levels in transfected human hepatoma cells than the wild-type virus.

9 Jan 2005

Pegylated interferon alfa-2b offers the best treatment option for people with chronic hepatitis B infection

Harry Janssen (Erasmus University Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands) and colleagues assessed whether combination treatment with pegylated interferon alfa-2b and the antiviral agent lamivudine was more efficacious in treating chronic hepatitis B infection than pegylated interferon alfa-2b therapy alone.

7 Jan 2005

Peginterferon alfa-2b produced sustained responses in patients with chronic hepatitis B

Results from a large international clinical study reported in this week's issue of The Lancet showed that peginterferon alfa-2b produced sustained responses in patients with chronic hepatitis B. The investigator-initiated study is the largest clinical trial to date with peginterferon alfa-2b therapy for chronic hepatitis B.

7 Jan 2005

New hope for millions of patients suffering from liver damage (cirrhosis)

Millions of patients suffering from liver damage (cirrhosis) and failure may benefit from research by the Universities of Edinburgh and Southampton which may lead to new life-saving treatments. There is currently no cure for liver cirrhosis and a patient's only hope of survival is to receive a liver transplant.

5 Jan 2005

Instead of chemotherapy, drugs that influence the X protein's behavior might become an alternative cancer therapy

Identifying the link between chronic hepatitis B infection and liver cancer may one day help cancer patients sidestep the poison of chemotherapy, a Purdue University study suggests.

13 Dec 2004

Cryotherapy and MRI shows tumors freezing in real time

Cryotherapy combined with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is giving doctors unprecedented control during liver cancer treatment by allowing them to observe the tumors freezing in real time, according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

30 Nov 2004

Eating apples may protect against Alzheimer's and Parkinsonism

A group of chemicals in apples could protect the brain from the type of damage that triggers such neurodegenerative diseases as Alzheimer's and Parkinsonism, according to two new studies from Cornell University food scientists.

18 Nov 2004

Britain should adopt universal hepatitis B immunisation

The United Kingdom is one of the few developed countries that have not implemented universal immunisation. Because the burden of hepatitis B was low and individual rights were considered paramount, a policy of selective immunisation of high-risk groups, such as health care workers, homosexual men, and drug addicts, has been followed.

5 Nov 2004

Health professionals fall short for Hepatitis C patients

People living with Hepatitis C are highly critical of the treatment they have received from health professionals, particularly doctors, according to a new study by a University of Auckland sociology researcher.

3 Nov 2004

Program triples hepatitis B vaccination rates in targeted regions of rural China

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation and the China Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control (CFHPC) announced the results of a collaborative grassroots education and vaccination program designed to fight the spread of one of China's most pressing health problems -- hepatitis B.

1 Nov 2004

New approaches for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C

Data from two ongoing studies testing new approaches for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C was presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) this afternoon.

1 Nov 2004

Strong-flavored onions could potentially be great for fighting cancer

Researchers at Cornell University have found, in preliminary lab studies, that members of the onion family with the strongest flavor — particularly New York Bold, Western Yellow and shallots — are the best varieties for inhibiting the growth of liver and colon cancer cells.

21 Oct 2004

Tiny beads called microspheres could become the new weapon in the fight against liver cancer

The new treatment involves injecting thousands of the beads via an incision into the hepatic artery - the main blood supply for the liver. When the microspheres are injected they are picked up by the blood flow and eventually lodge in the malignant cells of the tumours.

19 Oct 2004

Energy blocker can eradicate large liver tumors

Building on their earlier work, Johns Hopkins researchers have discovered that an apparently nontoxic cellular "energy blocker" can eradicate large liver tumors grown in rats. Six months to more than a year after treatment was stopped, the rats are still cancer free.

18 Oct 2004

People with diabetes mellitus have three to four times the risk of developing liver cancer

People with diabetes mellitus have three to four times the risk of developing liver cancer, and more than twice the risk of developing pancreatic cancer than non-diabetic individuals, according to research presented at the Third Annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research Meeting in Seattle.