Prevalence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Patients With Renal-Cell Carcinoma

Some studies have demonstrated that the prevalence of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is increased in patients with renal-cell carcinoma (RCC). Brazil is considered a low prevalence area for HCV (1.38%). The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of HCV infection in patients with RCC.

A cross-sectional study with retrospective data collection was carried out. Patients more than 18 years old with a histopathologic diagnosis of RCC and who underwent HCV serology were included. Sociodemographic, pathologic, and clinical characteristics were evaluated at the time of patient admission. A descriptive analysis of the data was performed using means accompanied by their respective standard deviations for the continuous variables, and absolute number and frequency for the categorical variables. Comparisons between means were performed by analysis of variance. A chi-square test was used to compare the frequency of categorical variables. P < .05 was considered statistically significant.

The prevalence of HCV infection was 4.1% (95% confidence interval, 1.7-8.3). No significant differences in age, sex, ethnicity, schooling, and alcohol or tobacco consumption among HCV- and HCV-negative patients with RCC were observed.

A 3-fold higher prevalence of HCV infection was identified among patients with RCC than in the general Brazilian population. Further studies are required to confirm these data.