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Hemochromatosis variants may confer 10-fold higher risk of liver cancer

Key clinical point: Men with genetic variants that cause hereditary hemochromatosis have an increased risk of liver cancer and death, according to a large cohort study.

Major finding: The risk of primary hepatic malignancy (hazard ratio, 10.5; P < .001) and the risk of all-cause death (HR, 1.2; P = .046) were significantly higher in men with HFE p.C282Y homozygosity, compared with men without HFE pathogenic variants. There were no significant associations in women.

Study details: A cohort study of 451,186 UK Biobank participants of European ancestry, aged 40-70 years.

Disclosures: This research was funded by the UK Medical Research Council. One author disclosed financial affiliations with the UK Medical Research Council during the conduct of the study.

Citation:

Atkins JL et al. JAMA. 2020 Nov 24. doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.21566.