In this episode, we sit down with Harriet Rumgay, PhD, a scientist at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO), to unpack a striking new finding: roughly 1 in 8 cancers diagnosed worldwide are caused by infections.
Transcript:
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Joining me now is Dr. Harriet Rumgay. Dr. Rumgay, it’s great to see you. Thanks for joining us on the program this morning.
Harriet Rumgay, PhD, International Agency for Research on Cancer
Thanks so much for having me.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, it’s a pleasure to talk to you. And I’m really excited to learn more about this research that you and the team did. Let’s take a step back, though.
Let’s talk about the data set that was used and how you approached the research. I think that would be interesting for the audience as a starting point.
Harriet Rumgay, PhD, International Agency for Research on Cancer
Yeah, sure. So initially, we needed to have a look at what types of infections we wanted to include in this study. So here at IARC, we have this program called the monographs, where they review the evidence on different carcinogens, so different things that can cause cancer in humans.
So going to this data source, we picked out all of the infectious causes of cancer. So that’s the 12 infections that we included in our study. So that covers eight different viruses, one bacterium and three parasites.
And so going from this, then we needed to know, well, how many cancers are associated with each of these infections. So we’re looking at the different cancer types that could be caused by the different infections. After we have those, then we needed to have a look at what proportion of each cancer type could be caused by those infections.
So here we’re really looking for studies that have looked at cancer by cancer or person by person who is diagnosed with different cancer types. How many of those had these different infections? And then going from that, we could take some of these global cancer incidence estimates.
So that’s the number of people that are diagnosed with different cancers in countries across the world. And then we could apply those proportions to this total number of cancers or cancer diagnoses to get the overall estimate of how many people were diagnosed with cancer that could have been caused by an infection.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
So thank you. That was extremely thorough. And I apologize.
I’m a lay person. I’m not a doctor like you are. So did the results, one in eight cancers are caused by infection.
Did that strike you as the team as well? Let me ask you, what were your I don’t want to pin you in. I want to ask you, what were your thoughts, your team’s thoughts about seeing these results?
Harriet Rumgay, PhD, International Agency for Research on Cancer
I think it’s similar to what we would have expected. So we did a similar study a few years ago where we were looking at the similar methodology. How many cancers could have been caused by these different infectious agents?
So we have a similar overall number. So one in eight cancers caused by infections. But what is different is that comparing with the previous study, we actually have more infectious agents and we have more cancer types that are linked to those.
So we have this increase in number of cancers that are caused by the different infectious agents or the new infections. But compared with the previous study, actually, some of those associated cancers did decrease. So we have this kind of shift.
But overall, we have a similar number of one in eight cancers caused by infections.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
So are these infections, are these treatable infections? So they’re not like, you know, there’s a lot of talk about the pneumonic plague. But are these are these infections that anybody, whether they’re here in the States, they’re there in the UK, they’re anywhere around the world, they could be treated for.
And therefore, I’m taking a step to say they would eliminate the potential risk. So is that.
Harriet Rumgay, PhD, International Agency for Research on Cancer
Yeah, definitely. So if we think about a couple of our top infectious causes of cancer. So the top one that we found was helicobacter pylori.
So H. pylori. This can be treated.
We we first need to, you know, test someone to know if they have helicobacter pylori. And we would only do that if they have certain symptoms in a lot of countries. That is because a lot of people are infected with this, but that doesn’t mean that a lot of people will get cancer from it.
It’s something that most people, it really won’t affect them. Their body will kind of deal with it itself and they would never even know that they had it. But in certain people, it can have worse outcomes or then you would have certain symptoms and then you can be tested for it and treated.
Another infection that can be treated for is hepatitis C virus. So, you know, I’m sure you’ve heard about it. It can spread through, you know, sharing needles.
If people have or people who inject drugs, that could be a way or through, yeah, through the blood contact, basically. So this is something that people can be tested for and treated for as well. So it’s really something that we can prevent or at least prevent the cancers that could be linked to it.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
So, I mean, that’s important. Obviously, this is important research. It’s an important step as people like yourselves at IARC and others are doing this research.
How does this, you know, are we moving the needle? Does this research help move the needle in terms of more prevention? So more people that are aware of this, I would assume it helps with ultimately with the prevention.
And then you can then focus more of your research on maybe some of the cancers that are not as, have not been as treatable.
Harriet Rumgay, PhD, International Agency for Research on Cancer
Yeah, that’s a really good point. So, yeah, absolutely. This research is partly to raise awareness that infections are still a huge preventable cause of cancer that we can do something about.
You know, if we know what the cause is, then we can try and treat it or prevent it. So definitely a lot of the infections that we have included in this study can be tested or treated for and also can be prevented through vaccination or through certain screening and treatment programs. But there are other infections that we’ve included.
So the Epstein-Barr virus, this is a very common virus, but, you know, it doesn’t mean that everyone who has it will develop cancer. But it’s also a virus that we don’t currently have an effective way of preventing. So we don’t actually have a good vaccine for it.
This is something that we really think is an area for development and that we would really like to put more resources into developing a new vaccine for it. And so these are, yeah, definitely targets for prevention. And absolutely, if we know how to prevent them, we can put the resources in, we can reduce the cancers that are caused by these different infections.
Then we can have a look at the other cancers that we don’t know what the cause is and that are still kind of a huge burden on people and on societies as well.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, maybe as a follow-up to that, I know this isn’t directly in the research, but a lot of headway has been made in detection. I know there are blood tests, they can detect multiple types of cancer. That, again, tied with this type of prevention.
You could go to your primary care physician or go to a clinic and get treated. But these blood tests allow clinicians to get ahead of what could be a treatable cancer.
Harriet Rumgay, PhD, International Agency for Research on Cancer
Yeah, definitely. And those tests, so tests for multiple different cancer types, they are so useful, especially for cancers that don’t have specific symptoms that we wouldn’t really know if someone has a certain cancer type just because they have different symptoms like bloating or maybe changes in their toilet habits. So absolutely, this is going to be a huge development, I think, in the next few years or decades to catch cancers earlier and give people the best chance of being cured and treated and with less side effects as well so that people have the best life that they can after cancer as well.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, amen to that. A couple more questions for you, Doctor, and then I promise I’ll let you go get back to the research. So I can’t help but ask you about artificial intelligence.
You read about it in virtually every paper, every periodical. How has it impacted your life, your work in terms of doing the research? I would imagine, I don’t want to lead the witness here, but I would imagine, not that you’re on trial, but I don’t want to lead the witness, but I would imagine that it allows you to get through data sets a lot quicker.
So how does it apply to the research that you and I conduct on a regular basis?
Harriet Rumgay, PhD, International Agency for Research on Cancer
Yeah, so this is an area that we’re still kind of trying to understand and also figure out how to best use it. But definitely, it can streamline a lot of the processes that we do that maybe take up some time that we could be dedicating to the research. We’re not using it to think for us or anything.
This is still our research. We’re still using our brains, but it can take away some of the smaller admin tasks or help us clean up maybe some of our writing, get the messaging right. Yeah, but I think there’s a huge development as well in terms of actually diagnosing cancer.
So this is something that is being used or trying to be used more in different screening programs where they’re looking at imaging of potential tumors. And so maybe with AI, this will be able to actually find the tumors quicker than the human eye and maybe be more accurate as well.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
I always see it as a complement to what the human person is doing. And of course, as a clinician, you have more empathy than currently a AI agent might have. All right.
My last question for you is what’s next in terms of research? So you’ve done this. It seems to confirm some of the research that was previously done.
Where do you go from here?
Harriet Rumgay, PhD, International Agency for Research on Cancer
I think what we want to do with these findings, with this research is, you know, really make sure that people understand that we do have ways of preventing a lot of these different infections. And not everyone is able to access the vaccines or the treatment for these different infectious agents. So we really want to try and improve the rollout or the coverage of specific preventive interventions like the vaccines, like the testing and treatment.
But in a kind of second focus is also to enforce or reinforce the development of new prevention tools, especially for Epstein Barr virus and to keep this moving and to try and find a vaccine or another way of preventing this virus soon. But we still are understanding it or trying to understand it. So, yeah, it’s developing every day.
Jeffrey Snyder, Broadcast Retirement Network
Yeah, you know, it’s dynamic. Obviously, this cancer has been around probably since the beginning of humans. Humans came out of the sub-Sahara part of Africa, I guess.
And you guys are making great progress. Dr. Harriet Runge, great to see you. Thanks for joining us.
Thanks for putting up with my lay questions. And we look forward to having you back on the program again very soon.
Harriet Rumgay, PhD, International Agency for Research on Cancer
Thanks so much, Jeff. It’s great to be here. Thank you.
