Jaundice linked to cancer

Family Practice (2012) 29(4):416-420

Around a quarter of patients who present in primary care with jaundice may have cancer, according to an analysis of a UK general practice database. The study highlights the importance of urgent investigations to detect viral hepatitis, autoimmune liver disease, cancer and other possible causes of jaundice.

Researchers identified 277 patients with at least one episode of jaundice from the records of 186,814 men and women aged more than 45 years. Of those with jaundice, 33 per cent had bile duct stones and 27 per cent suffered a malignancy that could account for the jaundice, including pancreatic cancer (12 per cent) and cholangiocarcinoma (5 per cent), which arises in bile ducts.