MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Catterina Ferreccio, MD, MPH School of Medicine Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Santiago, Chile Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Dr. Ferreccio: In Chile, gallbladder cancer (GBC) is the 2^nd highest cause of cancer death in women.  Other than gallstones no other causal factors have been identified. We conducted a pilot case-control study of gallbladder cancer to evaluate its association with aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) exposure. Aflatoxins are toxics products of the fungis Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus and are contaminants of food; AFB1 is carcinogenic. Usually they are found in areas closer to the Equator than Chile. Main findings were the high proportion (35%) of study subjects carrying aflatoxins adducts and the particularly high exposure among the Gallbladder cancer (GBC) cases (64%) compared with gallstones controls (18%) or with population controls (23%). Difference of gallbladder cancer vs controls were statistically significant and suggests aflatoxins may be a significant risk factor for gallbladder cancer; hypothesis never tested before. (more…)