Better vaccination coverage against hepatitis B and policies targeting obesity and alcohol consumption are necessary to lower the number of liver cancers which, for lack of public action, could have almost doubled worldwide in 2050, said an international study published on Tuesday.
These works, carried out by a commission of experts from six countries (China, United States, South Korea, Italy, Spain and France) and published in the medical journal The Lancet, underline “the urgency of global action” against this disease, after having screened the studies and available data.
Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer and the most deadly third. According to the World Cancer Observatory, on the planet in 2050 the number of new cases will climb to 1.52 million per year, an almost doubly, while 1.37 million people will die.
Eight out of ten of these cancers are hepatocellular carcinomas, a particularly present form in East Asia, North Africa and Southeast Asia. Globally, the patient’s survival rate at five was 5% to 30% between 2000 and 2014.
However, three out of five liver cancers are due to avoidable risk factors on which it should be act according to the researchers: viral hepatitis, alcohol consumption and non -alcoholic hepatic steatosis (characterized by an accumulation of fat in the liver, often associated with obesity).
Hepatitis B and C viruses should remain the main causes of liver cancer in 2050, while seeing their share decrease (36.9% of cases against 39% for the first, 25.9% against 29.1% for the second).
While vaccination against hepatitis B is the most effective means of prevention, “coverage remains low in Africa and in low -resources regions” due to its “cost, reluctance to be vaccinated and ignorance of its effectiveness” and lack of vaccination obligation, says the study.
The share of liver cancers due to alcohol consumption and steatosis should increase: the accumulation of fat in the liver will be involved in 11% of cases in 2050 (compared to 8% in 2022), an increase of 35%, and alcohol, of 21.1% of cases on this horizon, according to their calculations.
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