Diabetics With Fatty Liver At Higher Risk Of Cancer And Cirrhosis

People with diabetes are more likely to develop liver problems such as cancer and cirrhosis, according to a study from Europe.

The report released last month focussed on the risk factor associated with chronic liver diseases. It suggested that Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), which is a common type of liver disease, could be caused due to diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and lipid disorders.

The research paper also indicated that people with NAFLD are believed to be at higher risk of developing liver cancer and cirrhosis. For the study, the researchers analyzed data of more than 18 million Europeans.

In the study, published in a journal called BMC Medicine, the academics looked at the link between NAFLD or Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and liver cancer or cirrhosis.

After accounting for body mass index, smoking habits and age, the researchers found that people with NASH or NAFLD are around five times more likely to develop cirrhosis and more than three times more likely to develop cancer than the people with healthy livers.

The researchers then compared people suffering from mild liver fibrosis with those who have NAFLD or NASH and their chances of developing cirrhosis and cancer. According to them, people with fibrosis are 33 times more likely to develop cirrhosis and they have 25 times higher risk of developing cancer.

Researchers also found that people with diabetes and NAFLD or NASH are twice likely to develop cirrhosis or cancer than the ones without diabetes.

“We probably need a more systematic way of detecting the liver disease in patients at risk so we can prevent progression. This involves raising awareness of liver disease among patients and their doctors and also making the most of the blood tests and scans that currently exist in people who we know are at risk,” Dr. William Alazawi from Barts Liver Center and the University of London told Reuters Health.

Overall, around 50 percent of the patients with NASH were diagnosed with cirrhosis within six months of their diagnosis for NASH. However, patients with NAFLD took few years to develop cirrhosis, the study revealed.

“The fact that patients acquired a diagnosis of cirrhosis or HCC within a few years of being diagnosed with NAFLD/NASH (suggests) that patients are being diagnosed late in the disease course. Knowing that diabetes is an independent predictor of cirrhosis and liver cancer is very important from a clinical point of view, as it helps us focus efforts to find patients who may benefit from intervention,” the lead researcher said.