One in six cancers, a total of two million new cases a year worldwide, is caused byinfections that can be treated or prevented. The percentage is even higher in developing countries, especially in the Asian continent, according to an interesting study just published in the British medical journalThe Lancet Infectious Diseases.
After analyzing the incidence of 27 different types of cancer in 184 countries, a team of researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (Lyon, France) has found that there are four main infectious agents that cause the appearance of these tumors. Specific,Helicobacter pylori bacteria, human papillomavirus, and hepatitis B and C viruseswere responsible for 1.9 million cases ofcancer of the cervix, intestine and liver. And therefore, they could have been prevented.
Researchers Martyn Plummer and Catherine de Martel, who lead the study, have highlighted the importance that the prevention of infections caused by viruses, bacteria and parasites will have in the future to reduce the global incidence of cancer. Not surprisingly, as Plummer recalled, there are already vaccines for hepatitis B and human papilloma viruses. And the bacteriaHelicobacter pylori, related to tumors in the intestine, can be eliminated with antibiotics. Researchers also argue that in these cases it is necessary to disseminate the concept ofcancer as a communicable disease.
