Hepatitis B virus (HBV) raises the risk of liver cancer, but not non-Hodgkin lymphoma, pancreatic cancer or cancer in general. Publishing their findings in the Journal of Viral Hepatology, researchers compared cancer rates between a nationwide Danish cohort of 4,345 people diagnosed with hep B between 1976 and 2007 and compared them with an age- and sex-matched population comparison group of 26,070 without hep B.

The study looked at the differences in rates of all cancers, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC, the most common form of liver cancer) and pancreatic cancer. The only statistically significant difference in the cancer rate, including the all-cause cancer rate, was that those with hep B had a 17-fold greater risk of HCC than those without the virus.

To read the study abstract, click here.