Alcohol consumption as A risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma in urban Southern African blacks

✍ Scribed by Abdulla E. Mohamed; Michael C. Kew; Hendrik T. Groeneveld

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1992
• Tongue: French
• Weight: 510 KB
• Volume: 51
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0020-7136
• DOI: 10.1002/ijc.2910510406

✦ Synopsis

Our purpose was to ascertain whether alcohol abuse is a risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in urban southern African blacks and, if so. to relate alcohol consumption to other possible risk factors such as persistent hepatitis-6-virus infection, smoking, .male sex, in this subpopulation. A prospective, hospital-based, case-control format involving I01 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma and I 0 I controls was used. The mean age of the patients was 53.7 f I .85 years and the male:female ratio 3.2: I. An increased risk was found, but only in urban men over the age of 40 years who habitually drank more than 80 g of ethanol daily. The risk remained after adjusting for chronic hepatitis-6 infection, smoking, and sex (odds ratio 4.4,95% confidence interval I .3 to 16.6; p = 0.003). Smoking proved not to be a risk factor, either alone or in concert with alcohol consumption. Hepatitis-6 infection was confirmed as a major risk in youhger men and in women, but in urban men over the age of 40 years alcohol abuse was a greater risk. Current hepatitis-6 infection and alcohol abuse were additive risks.