Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection and Risk of Pancreatic Cancer: A Meta-analysis

Objectives: A number of studies have shown that chronic hepatitis B virus infection is implicated insusceptibility to pancreatic cancer. However, the results are still controversial. This meta-analysis aimed toquantitatively assess the relationship between chronic hepatitis B virus infection and incidence of pancreaticcancer of cohort and case-control studies.
Methods: A literature search was performed for entries from 1990 to2012 using PUBMED and EMBASE. Studies were included if they reported odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding95% CIs of pancreatic cancer with respect to the infection of hepatitis B virus.
Results: Eight studies met theinclusion criteria, which included five case-control studies and three cohort studies. Compared with individualswho have not infection of hepatitis B virus, the pooled OR of pancreatic cancer was 1.403 (95%CI: 1.139-1.729,P=0.001) for patients with hepatitis B virus infection. Sub-group analysis by study design showed that thesummary OR was 1.43 (95%CI: 1.06-1.94, P=0.021) when pooling case-control studies and 1.31 (95%CI: 1.00-1.72, P=0.05) when pooling cohort studies.
Conclusion: Findings from this meta-analysis suggest that chronichepatitis B virus infection may increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. This relationship needs to be confirmedby further follow-up studies.