Transition of antibody to hepatitis C virus from chronic hepatitis to hepatocellular carcinoma.
Fifty-eight patients with chronic hepatitis C were followed for more than 7 years. Of them, 10 patients were found to develop hepatocellular carcinoma, 14 to develop liver cirrhosis, 30 to sustain chronic hepatitis, and 4 to show subsidence of hepatitis. Antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) disappeared from the 4 patients whose hepatitis subsided, but it persisted in the remaining 54 patients. The mean titer of anti-HCV was almost the same at the stages of chronic hepatitis and of cancer in the 10 patients who developed hepatocellular carcinoma. These results indicate that chronic infection of hepatitis C virus may lead to hepatocellular carcinoma.
Kiyosawa
K
K
Second Department of Internal Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto.
Tanaka
E
E
Sodeyama
T
T
Furuta
K
K
Usuda
S
S
Yousuf
M
M
Furuta
S
S
D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology*; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000032:analysis*; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies