Metabolic syndrome doubles the risk of liver cancer

A sound personalized strategy for eating, exercise and evidence-based supplementation to support healthy insulin regulation decreases the risk for a host of diseases. A paper just published in the journal Hepatology identifies metabolic syndrome as a major risk factor for liver cancer. The authors state:

"Incidence rates of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) have increased in the United States. Metabolic syndrome is recognized as a risk factor for HCC and a postulated one for ICC. The magnitude of risk, however, has not been investigated on a population level in the United States. We therefore examined the association between metabolic syndrome and the development of these cancers."

They examined the data for 3649 HCC cases and 743 ICC cases in comparison with 195,953 control subjects for the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (taking into consideration other risk factors for HCC (hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, etc) and ICC (biliary cirrhosis, cholangitis, hepatitis, alcoholic liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease, etc). What did the data show?

"Metabolic syndrome was significantly more common among persons who developed HCC and ICC than the comparison group. In adjusted multiple logistic regression analyses, metabolic syndrome remained significantly associated with increased risk of HCC (odds ratio = 2.13) and ICC (odds ratio = 1.56)."

In other words, the adjusted odds ratio for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was 213% (more than double) and 56% for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC). And very significantly, 43% of the patients with liver cancer had no other previously established risk factors for it. Considering that both HCC and ICC are on the increase, the authors' conclusion is notable:

"Metabolic syndrome is a significant risk factor for development of HCC and ICC in the general U.S. population."