Last week CBC news published a surprising story that stated a high number of cancers worldwide were caused by infections. This serves to remind us to guard our health even from something seemingly innocuous like a mild viral illness. The study said that up to 1 out of every 8 cancers is caused by infection, meaning that over 2 million cancers per year are infection related. This is turning what we thought we knew about cancer on it's head. Here are some excerpts from the news story:
A team of researchers at The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), an arm of the World Health Organization, conducted the study. They found the largest number of cancer cases attributed to infections globally were caused by the bacterium Helicobacter pylori, which can increase the risk of stomach cancer and accounted for 760,000 cases, predominantly in eastern Asia.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) followed close behind. HPV, which causes 100 per cent of cervical cancer cases and also anal, vulvar, vaginal, penile and some head and neck cancers, accounted for nearly 750,000 new cases globally.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) were also linked to a significant number of liver cancer cases.
Another significant shift is the recognition of the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). EBV was linked to about 260,000 cases globally in 2024, and can lead to nasopharyngeal cancer, some gastric cancers and Hodgkin's lymphoma.
"That's quite a big burden of cancer caused by Epstein-Barr virus that was not counted in the past, but is now recognized," Clifford said.
Epstein-Barr virus is also a key risk factor in developing multiple sclerosis, and unlike some of the other infections that have vaccines or antibiotic treatments, there are no available tools to fight against it.
In North America, the burden of cancer-causing infections is much lower, but H. pylori and HPV are the most common sources.
"HPV is certainly an infection that we're keeping an eye on in Canada," said Elizabeth Holmes, the director of health policy at the Canadian Cancer Society.
Holmes said cervical cancer rates had been steadily declining in Canada due to robust childhood vaccination programs, but plateaued last year.
"That's certainly a concern — that we might not meet our goal of elimination of cervical cancer by 2040 unless those rates start to decline again," she said.
The infection leading to the most cancer cases is Helicobacter pylori, a bacterium first discovered in the early 1980s that mainly leads to gastric cancers. Dr. Paul Moayyedi, a leading researcher and gastroenterologist at McMaster University wants to see a universal screening program for the bacterium, which can be detected through a blood or breath test, stool sample or endoscopy and treated with a combination of antibiotics over a two-week period.
On Monday we will post more about cancer projections in Canada.
Cancer Crossing assists Manitobans with cancer with costs that are not covered by the provincial health care plan. including transportation to treatments and other associated costs. You can help too by donating at https://cancercrossing.com/
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