13% of cancer diseases are due to infections

13% of all new cancer diagnoses are due to infections. In quantitative terms, it is 2.2 million new cases of cancer worldwide, although this data does not include cases of non-melanoma skin cancer. Such data were collected by French researchers from the infectious and oncological epidemiology team engaged in statistics on the incidence of cancer and the assessment of cancer-related infections. According to the authors, the main causes of tumors were Helicobacter pylori, human papillomavirus, hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus. One third of cases of primary carcinogenic infections were registered in China, where such tumors were mainly associated with Helicobacter pylori infection and viral hepatitis B.

SOURCE: THE LANCET