Response to Doganay et al.

To the Editor: We appreciate the interest of Doganay et al. (1) regarding our study on the risk of hepatic and extra-hepatic cancers in patients with cirrhosis (2,3). They have noted that our study demonstrated that patients with hepatitis C- (HCV) or hepatitis B (HBV)-related cirrhosis had a relatively lower rate of extra-hepatic cancer (EHC) compared with other etiologies of cirrhosis. With an apparent increase risk of lymphomas among patients with HCV and HBV, the authors caution against interpreting our study to indicate a lower risk of extra-hepatic cancers in patients with viral cirrhosis. Although we agree with this statement, clarification is warranted.