A study reveals that hepatitis B and C viruses may cause multiple myeloma. The discovery was based on a hepatitis C patient who was cured. They observed that early Hepatitis B or C virus detection can improve antiviral treatment and results. The study emphasizes antiviral treatment for these patients.
The hepatitis B and C viruses can cause multiple myeloma, a prevalent blood cancer, according to a study that gives new hope for treatment.
Several years ago, a patient was cured of multiple myeloma after hepatitis C treatment, shocking Spanish physicians.
Hospital 12 de Octubre (H12O) and the National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) in Madrid, Spain revealed that antivirals can commonly combat this cancer by eradicating infection.
The authors noted in Haematologica that “the recognition of this association between viral hepatitis and multiple myeloma, as well as the pathologies known to precede myeloma, monoclonal gammopathies, has important clinical implications.”
“Early identification of Hepatitis B or C virus infection in these individuals can lead to appropriate antiviral treatment and consequent improvement in outcomes,” he said.
Multiple myeloma (MM) is an overgrowth of blood cells that generate antibodies (immunoglobulins), which fight infections.
Myeloma produces an antibody, which varies by infectious agent, continually and abundantly. Chronic infection affects biochemical signals that produce the particular antibody against the infectious pathogen, which may explain this abnormality.
The patient who was cured of myeloma after Hepatitis C treatment supports this view.
The authors hypothesized that the antiviral treatment reduced chronic Hepatitis virus exposure, which caused the myeloma to disappear since anti-Hepatitis C antibody-producing cells ceased multiplying.
To determine if this had occurred, two studies were conducted with 54 patients with monoclonal gammopathy (the pathology that precedes multiple myeloma) and hepatitis: 9 with C in an initial study and 45 with B in the Haematologica study. Most of them discovered that their increased antibody production targeted the hepatitis virus. They then examined a larger cohort of multiple myeloma patients (over 1,300) infected with Hepatitis B and C (over 1,200).
Both groups showed “the probability of survival was significantly higher” for antiviral treatment.
“In patients infected with the Hepatitis B or Hepatitis C virus, multiple myeloma or gammopathy may be caused by these viruses, and the study demonstrates the importance of antiviral treatment in these patients,” they stated.
Conclusion
Hospital 12 de Octubre and the National Cancer Research Centre in Madrid, Spain, showed that hepatitis B and C viruses can cause multiple myeloma. The discovery was based on a hepatitis C-cured multiple myeloma patient. The team observed that antivirals generally combat this cancer by removing infection. The study reveals that early detection of Hepatitis B or C virus infection can improve results and antiviral treatment. The study also indicated that antiviral treatment increased survival in Hepatitis B and C patients.
