Hepatitis C virus appears to replicate not only in hepatocytes but also in hepatocellular carcinoma cells as demonstrated by immunostaining.
Persistent infection with hepatitis C virus is a major risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). It has been unclear whether hepatitis C virus replicates in HCC. A total of 39 hepatitis B surface-antigen-negative HCC were resected surgically at Nihon University Itabashi Hospital between January 1990 and December 1992. Of them, serum anti-hepatitis C was positive in 28 cases, negative in three and not examined in eight. The indirect immunoperoxidase technique was used for detection of the hepatitis C core antigen on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded sections. Positive staining was found within non-tumor hepatocytes in 22 (78.6%), one and four cases, respectively. Fourteen (58.3%) of these 24 cases, which were positively immunostained in non-tumor hepatocytes (three were excluded because of complete necrosis of HCC), were also stained for the core antigen in HCC cells. Core antigen was stained in both hepatocytes and HCC cells within the cytoplasm, diffusely or focally with varying intensity in a local or patchy distribution. Hepatitis C virus appears to replicate in HCC cells and the significance of such viral replication in hepatocarcinogenesis remains to be clarified.
Uchida
T
T
Department of Pathology, Nihon University, School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Shikata
T
T
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000956:Antigens, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology*; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008099:Liver / Q000166:cytology / Q000821:virology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014758:Viral Core Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000276:immunology
D000956:Antigens, Viral; D018936:Hepatitis C Antigens; D014758:Viral Core Proteins; C069130:nucleocapsid protein, Hepatitis C virus