Association of Fasciola hepatica Infection with Liver Fibrosis, Cirrhosis, and Cancer: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND:Fascioliasis has been sporadically associated with chronic liver disease on previous studies. In order to describe the current evidence, we carried out a systematic review to assess the association between fascioliasis with liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and cancer. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL F...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Main Authors: Claudia Machicado, Jorge D Machicado, Vicente Maco, Angelica Terashima, Luis A Marcos
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2016
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0004962
https://doaj.org/article/a208c9598d444f17a2214095336285e5
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Summary:BACKGROUND:Fascioliasis has been sporadically associated with chronic liver disease on previous studies. In order to describe the current evidence, we carried out a systematic review to assess the association between fascioliasis with liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and cancer. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:A systematic search of electronic databases (PubMed, LILACS, Scopus, Embase, Cochrane, and Scielo) was conducted from June to July 2015 and yielded 1,557 published studies. Among 21 studies that met inclusion and exclusion criteria, 12 studies explored the association of F. hepatica with liver fibrosis, 4 with liver cirrhosis, and 5 with cancer. Globally these studies suggested the ability of F. hepatica to promote liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. The role of F. hepatica in cancer is unknown. Given the heterogeneity of the studies, a meta-analysis could not be performed. CONCLUSIONS:Future high-quality studies are needed to determine the role of F. hepatica on the development of liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis, and cancer in humans.