Detection of hepatitis C virus cDNA sequence by the polymerase chain reaction in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues.
We found the presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in liver tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who had antibodies to HCV but no serological markers for hepatitis B virus infection by the sensitive reverse transcription/polymerase chain reaction (R/PCR) method. The primers used were derived from the non-structural (NS) 3 and/or the structural (C/E) region. Amplified cDNA sequences of HCV were detected in either cancerous or non-cancerous portion of liver tissues from four out of eight HCC patients with primers of NS3 region. Similar but less efficient results were obtained with primers of C/E region. These results indicate that HCV persists in the liver tissue of HCC. A possible role of persistent infection of HCV for the development of HCC is discussed.
Yoneyama
T
T
Department of Enteroviruses, National Institute of Health, Tokyo.
Takeuchi
K
K
Watanabe
Y
Y
Harada
H
H
Ohbayashi
A
A
Tanaka
Y
Y
Yuasa
T
T
Saito
I
I
Miyamura
T
T
D001483:Base Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000382:microbiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction
D004279:DNA, Viral