Diabetes linked to liver cancer: Beijing study

Diabetes is strongly linked with the increased risk of liver cancer, especially in patients with hepatitis B infection, researchers from Peking Union Medical College Hospital have shown.

Their study found a strong association between diabetes and hepatocellular carcinoma regardless of the prevalence of hepatitis B and C infection, cirrhosis, gender, and age. However, there was also a synergistic interaction between diabetes and HBV in cancer occurrence. “Therefore, diabetes patients with HBV infection represent a very high hepatocellular carcinoma risk population and should be considered for hepatocellular carcinoma close surveillance program” the researchers said in PLOS One.