Risk of Pancreatic Cancer in Relation to ABO Blood Group and Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Korea: A Case-Control Study

ABSTRACT

Several studies have reported that ABO blood group, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection contribute to the development of pancreatic cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between these factors and pancreatic cancer in the Korean population. We retrospectively recruited 753 patients with pancreatic cancer and 3,012 healthy controls, matched 4 to 1 with cancer patients for age and sex, between 2001 and 2011, at the National Cancer Center, Korea. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to estimate adjusted odds ratios (AORs). The AOR for pancreatic cancer in subjects with non-O blood types (A, AB, and B), compared to blood type O, was 1.29 (95% CI, 1.05-1.58; P = 0.01). Seropositivity for hepatitis B virus surface antigen was not significantly related to pancreatic cancer, either in univariate (odds ratio 1.03; 95% CI, 0.69-1.53; P = 0.91) or multivariate analysis (AOR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.67-1.56; P = 0.93). The AOR for pancreatic cancer in subjects displaying seropositivity for anti-HCV was 2.30 (95% CI, 1.30-4.08; P < 0.01). Our results suggest that the non-O blood types and anti-HCV seropositivity, but not HBV infection, may increase the risk of developing pancreatic cancer in Korea, where HBV is endemic.