China launches study on liver cancer in hepatitis B patients

BEIJING -- A research project aimed at lowering the incidence of liver cancer among patients with hepatitis B was launched in China on Tuesday, which was World Hepatitis Day.

The project, sponsored by the Chinese Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control, will observe and study the five-year incidence of liver cancer among 20,000 chronic hepatitis B patients in 99 hospitals across the country.

It aims to optimize the clinical treatment path of hepatitis B antiviral therapy and explore ways of reducing the incidence of liver cancer linked to hepatitis B.

"We hope long-term treatment and observation can answer questions that traditional clinical trials can not, like what's the difference in liver cancer incidence between different therapies," said Zhang Wenhong, a leading expert working on the project.

According to data from 2019, primary liver cancer is the fourth most common malignant tumor and the second leading cause of death among all kinds of tumors in China. It is estimated that 85 percent of China's liver cancer patients have been infected with the hepatitis B virus.