title: Hepatitis C infection and renal cell carcinoma: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the association between hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC).
  
  
  METHODS
  A literature search was performed from inception until February 2016. Studies that reported relative risks, odd ratios, hazard ratios or standardized incidence ratio comparing the risk of RCC among HCV-infected participants vs those without HCV infection were included. Participants without HCV infection were used as comparators. Pooled odds ratios and 95%CI were calculated using a random-effect, generic inverse variance method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seven observational studies were with 196826 patients were included in the analysis to assess the risk of RCC in patients with HCV. A significantly increased risk of RCC among participants with HCV infection was found with a pooled RR of 1.86 (95%CI: 1.11-3.11). The association between RCC and HCV was marginally insignificant after a sensitivity analysis limited only to studies with adjusted analysis, with a pooled RR of 1.50 (95%CI: 0.93-2.42).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrated a potential association between HCV infection and RCC. Further studies of RCC surveillance in patients with HCV are required.
authors.affiliation: Karn Wijarnpreecha, Suthanya Sornprom, Charat Thongprayoon, Natanong Thamcharoen, Department of Internal Medicine, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY 13326, United States.
authors.forename: Karn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wijarnpreecha
authors.affiliation: Karn Wijarnpreecha, Suthanya Sornprom, Charat Thongprayoon, Natanong Thamcharoen, Department of Internal Medicine, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY 13326, United States.
authors.forename: Pitchaphon
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nissaisorakarn
authors.affiliation: Karn Wijarnpreecha, Suthanya Sornprom, Charat Thongprayoon, Natanong Thamcharoen, Department of Internal Medicine, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY 13326, United States.
authors.forename: Suthanya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sornprom
authors.affiliation: Karn Wijarnpreecha, Suthanya Sornprom, Charat Thongprayoon, Natanong Thamcharoen, Department of Internal Medicine, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY 13326, United States.
authors.forename: Charat
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Thongprayoon
authors.affiliation: Karn Wijarnpreecha, Suthanya Sornprom, Charat Thongprayoon, Natanong Thamcharoen, Department of Internal Medicine, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY 13326, United States.
authors.forename: Natanong
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Thamcharoen
authors.affiliation: Karn Wijarnpreecha, Suthanya Sornprom, Charat Thongprayoon, Natanong Thamcharoen, Department of Internal Medicine, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY 13326, United States.
authors.forename: Kunlatida
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maneenil
authors.affiliation: Karn Wijarnpreecha, Suthanya Sornprom, Charat Thongprayoon, Natanong Thamcharoen, Department of Internal Medicine, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY 13326, United States.
authors.forename: Alexander J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Podboy
authors.affiliation: Karn Wijarnpreecha, Suthanya Sornprom, Charat Thongprayoon, Natanong Thamcharoen, Department of Internal Medicine, Bassett Medical Center, Cooperstown, NY 13326, United States.
authors.forename: Wisit
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Cheungpasitporn
keywords: Hepatitis C virus; Kidney cancer; Meta-analysis; Renal cancer; Systematic review