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SEATTLE, Oct 18, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX) -- Patients infected with the hepatitis C virus are six times as likely to develop non-Hodgkin's lymphoma than those virus free, a Canadian study found.
Researchers at the British Columbia Cancer Agency in Vancouver found hepatitis C infected patients have a 17 fold higher risk for developing diffuse large B-Cell lymphoma.
Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is the most common variety of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma -- comprising approximately 30 percent of all non-Hodgkin's lymphoma patients.
"People who have been exposed to the virus comprise a high risk group for developing non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, particularly diffuse b-cell lymphoma," said John Spinelli, the study's principal investigator.
The spread of hepatitis C in the United States has dropped significantly since the 1980s and currently, the number of new cases per year is around 25,000. Approximately 3.8 million Americans have been infected with the virus -- most commonly by a blood transfusion or by needles shared by drug users.
The findings were presented Monday during the Third Annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research meeting in Seattle.
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