Hepatitis C infection and renal cell carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Abstract

AIMTo investigate the association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC).METHODSA literature search was performed from inception until February 2016. Studies that reported relative risks, odd ratios, hazard ratios or standardized incidence ratio comparing the risk of RCC among HCV-infected participants vs those without HCV infection were included. Participants without HCV infection were used as comparators. Pooled odds ratios and 95%CI were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method.RESULTSSeven observational studies were with 196826 patients were included in the analysis to assess the risk of RCC in patients with HCV. A significantly increased risk of RCC among participants with HCV infection was found with a pooled RR of 1.86 (95%CI: 1.11-3.11). The association between RCC and HCV was marginally insignificant after a sensitivity analysis limited only to studies with adjusted analysis, with a pooled RR of 1.50 (95%CI: 0.93-2.42).CONCLUSIONOur study demonstrated a potential association between HCV infection and RCC. Further studies of RCC surveillance in patients with HCV are required.