Meta-Analysis
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2016. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Pathophysiol. Nov 15, 2016; 7(4): 314-319
Published online Nov 15, 2016. doi: 10.4291/wjgp.v7.i4.314
Hepatitis C infection and renal cell carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Karn Wijarnpreecha, Pitchaphon Nissaisorakarn, Suthanya Sornprom, Charat Thongprayoon, Natanong Thamcharoen, Kunlatida Maneenil, Alexander J Podboy, Wisit Cheungpasitporn
Karn Wijarnpreecha, Suthanya Sornprom, Charat Thongprayoon, Natanong Thamcharoen, Department of Internal Medicine, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY 13326, United States
Pitchaphon Nissaisorakarn, Department of Internal Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, United States
Kunlatida Maneenil, Division of Medical Oncology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United States
Alexander J Podboy, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United States
Wisit Cheungpasitporn, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905, United States
Author contributions: All authors had access to the data and a role in writing the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors deny any conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Wisit Cheungpasitporn, MD, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, Department of Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905, United States. wcheungpasitporn@gmail.com
Telephone: +1-507-2848450 Fax: +1-507-2667891
Received: April 6, 2016
Peer-review started: April 8, 2016
First decision: May 19, 2016
Revised: July 30, 2016
Accepted: August 17, 2016
Article in press: August 18, 2016
Published online: November 15, 2016
Processing time: 221 Days and 5.9 Hours
Abstract
AIM

To investigate the association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC).

METHODS

A literature search was performed from inception until February 2016. Studies that reported relative risks, odd ratios, hazard ratios or standardized incidence ratio comparing the risk of RCC among HCV-infected participants vs those without HCV infection were included. Participants without HCV infection were used as comparators. Pooled odds ratios and 95%CI were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method.

RESULTS

Seven observational studies were with 196826 patients were included in the analysis to assess the risk of RCC in patients with HCV. A significantly increased risk of RCC among participants with HCV infection was found with a pooled RR of 1.86 (95%CI: 1.11-3.11). The association between RCC and HCV was marginally insignificant after a sensitivity analysis limited only to studies with adjusted analysis, with a pooled RR of 1.50 (95%CI: 0.93-2.42).

CONCLUSION

Our study demonstrated a potential association between HCV infection and RCC. Further studies of RCC surveillance in patients with HCV are required.

Keywords: Hepatitis C virus; Renal cancer; Kidney cancer; Systematic review; Meta-analysis

Core tip: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a leading cause of cirrhosis in the United States with a steadily increasing prevalence over the past two decades. Interestingly, HCV infection may also be associated with an increased risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) as observed in several epidemiologic studies. To further investigate this possible association, we conducted this systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies reporting the risk of RCC among HCV-infected patients. We found a significantly increased risk of RCC among participants with HCV infection with the pooled risk ratio of 1.86 (95%CI: 1.11-3.11).