AACR, Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Hepatitis - Liver Disease / 29.03.2018
Most Baby Boomers Still Aren’t Screened For Hepatitis C
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Monica Kasting PhD first author
Dr. Anna Giuliano PhD
Susan. T. Vadaparampil, Ph.D., M.P.H.
Senior Member/Professor
Center for Infection Research in Cancer
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Tampa,
Florida.Department of Cancer Epidemiology,
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center,
Tampa, Florida
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: In the U.S., approximately 1 in 30 baby boomers are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus. Half of all cases of liver cancer are caused by hepatitis C and liver cancer is one of only three cancer types that are actually increasing in incidence in the US. Because of this, in 2012 the CDC issued a recommendation for universal screening for hepatitis C virus for everyone born between 1945 and 1965 (baby boomers). We wanted to look at the time period after that to see if the rates of screening in that population increased. From 2013-2015 screening among baby boomers only increased by 0.9% (from 11.8% to 12.7%) which indicates we still have a long way to go before we meet our goal of universal screening. (more…)