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British Journal of Cancer logoLink to British Journal of Cancer
. 1976 Jul;34(1):83–87. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1976.125

Geographic correlation between mortality from primary hepatic carcinoma and prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen in Greece.

D Trichopoulos, G Papaevangelou, M Violaki, C Vissoulis, L Sparros, O N Manousos
PMCID: PMC2025123  PMID: 952717

Abstract

Average annual age-adjusted mortality rates per 100,000 from primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC) among males for 1971-1973 in the urban and rural areas of the 9 geographical regions of Greece were estimated. Hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) prevalence by region and area was evaluated in a sample of 22,844 Greek Air Force recruits from all parts of the country. Mortality from PHC was found significantly higher in urban areas (28-30 vs. 18-81) whereas prevalence of HBsAg was higher in rural areas (5-3% vs. 3-90%). Nevertheless further statistical analysis showed that there is a strong correlation between HBsAg prevalence and mortality from PHC, which is higher in rural (r = + 0-88) than in urban (+ 0-57) areas. The latter findings indicate that hepatitis B infection and PHC may be causally related.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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