Contrary to previous findings, people with hepatitis C are five times as likely to develop liver cancer as those with hepatitis B, a leading researcher said yesterday.
Speaking at the 12th Society of Chinese Bioscientists in America (SCBA) International Symposium, Michael Lai (賴明詔), vice president of Academia Sinica, said that combined with heavy drinking, the risk level rises to 10 times.
Lai made the statement during the presentation of his latest paper, "A journey through RNA viruses: From coronavirus to hepatitis C virus replication and pathogenesis."
Nicknamed “the father of coronavirus,” Lai yesterday also received the SCBA Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest SCBA honor.
Hepatitis is a common illness of the liver, which affects millions of people in Asia. While the prevalence of hepatitis C in Taiwan is 2 percent, it is higher for hepatitis B.
“There are hepatitis A, B, C, D and E; While hepatitis A and E are acute, B, C and D are chronic liver diseases,” said Lai, who is also the president of National Cheng Kung University.
In the past, up to 90 percent of the nation's liver cancer cases were caused by hepatitis B, but this has been reversed since the development of the hepatitis B vaccine, he said.
“In southern Taiwan, more than half of liver cancer cases are induced by hepatitis C,” Lai said.
“Because the disease does not yet have a vaccine and medication is also only effective in 50 percent of cases, it is very important that we work on developing a hepatitis C vaccine,” he said.
Lai added that the probability of hepatitis C patients getting liver cancer was much higher than those with hepatitis B.
“While the amount of time that the hepatitis C virus is found in the human body is usually shorter — because whereas most hepatitis B patients contract the virus in early childhood, many hepatitis C patients get the disease later in life — those with hepatitis C are five times as likely as their counterparts to develop liver cancer,” he said.
The risks of people with hepatitis C contracting liver cancer could rise another two-fold — or 10 times more than the risk level for people with hepatitis B — if they are heavy drinkers or consume a large amount of high-fat foods, Lai said.
Hepatitis C sufferers should therefore abstain from alcohol and engage in routine liver function checks every four months, he said.
“Many people in the south go to local pharmacies to receive 'nutrient injections,' an effort to give their livers supplements,” Lai said.
“However, this kind of behavior may only make their conditions worse,” he said.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
Taiwan successfully defended its women’s 540 kilogram title and won its first-ever men’s 640 kg title at the 2026 World Indoor Tug of War Championships in Taipei yesterday. In the women’s event, Taiwan’s eight-person squad reached the final following a round-robin preliminary round and semifinals featuring teams from Ukraine, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, the Basque Country and South Korea. In the finals, they swept the Basque team 2-0, giving the team composed mainly of National Taiwan Normal University students and graduates its second championship in a row, and its fourth in five years. Team captain
RSS