• 11/22/2004
  • Sapa
  • www.iol.co.za

Blood used in hospitals should be screened for the human herpes virus 8, a recently discovered virus which leads to Kaposi’s sarcoma, particularly in HIV and Aids patients, the Medical Research Council has recommended.

Kaposi’s sarcoma was the leading cancer in many central, east and southern African countries, with rates “rapidly increasing” in South Africa, the MRC warned in its 2004 annual report.

Other data from the MRC’s cancer epidemiology research group showed that the percentage of lung cancer cases that could be ascribed to occupational environments (about 40 percent) was higher in a South African study than had been previously found in developed countries.

About 3 500 patients were studied to measure the association of lung cancer and occupation, with increased risks found among miners and workers in chemical industries.

In addition, 2 910 patients were examined to measure the association between HIV-infection and a number of socio-demographic characteristics.

Alcohol consumption was found to be an important risk factor for HIV infection, probably due to its promotion of sexual risk-taking behaviour.

“HIV-positive individuals were 3,5 times more likely to develop cancer of the vulva than HIV-negative individuals,” read the report.

Data from a case-control study were also analysed to determine the risk factors for cervical cancer among black women, with the results yet to be published. The association between hormonal contraceptive use and breast cancer was also investigated, with risks associated with the use of injectable progesterone contraceptives – widely used among black women since the 1970s – of particular interest.

The team also investigated the relationship between antibodies against six herpes viruses and seven different cancer groups: oral, cervical, prostate, Hodgkin’s lymphoma, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, multiple myeloma and leukaemia.

“The results showed a statistically significant increasing risk of oral cancer with increasing quantities of antibodies against the HHV-6 herpes virus,” said the annual report.

Prostate cancer was found to be the most common cancer in males of all population groups during 1996-97 and evidence suggested that environmental factors could play a role.

The emphasis of the cancer epidemiology research group was on the leading cancers affecting South Africans, namely prostate, cervix, breast, oesophagus and lung, as well as cancers that were rapidly increasing among the population, such as Kaposi’s sarcoma.

The group focuses on major and emerging causes of the disease, such as tobacco, infectious agents, alcohol, occupational environment and hormonal factors.