Hepatitis C Infection Increases Lymphoma Risk

People with the liver disease hepatitis C have an almost 30 percent higher risk of developing lymphoma, a cancer of the immune system. For a rare type of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma called Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, the risk is almost 300 percent higher.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Thomas Giordano, an assistant professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said: “If I had hepatitis C, this would be one more piece of evidence that might make me consider treatment, though hepatitis C treatment can be difficult and is often unsuccessful.”read more