title: High prevalence of hepatitis B and C viral markers in Japanese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: In order to assess the etiologic role of hepatitis C virus (HCV) as well as hepatitis B virus (HBV) in the etiology of HCC, we compared the prevalence of HCV-related antibodies (anti-C100-3, anti-CP9, anti-CP10) and HBV-related markers (HBsAg, anti-HBs, anti-HBc) in sera of patients with liver cirrhosis (LC) with (n = 62) and without (n = 54) hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In HBsAg-negative cases, at least one HCV-related marker (including HCV RNA) was detected in 92.3% (48/52) of HCC cases and in all of the 44 LC cases without HCC, with no significant difference between these two groups. In HBsAg-positive cases, the prevalence of either one of these HCV-related markers was 40.0% (4/10) both in patients with and without HCC, and there was no significant difference between these two groups. Moreover, in HBsAg-negative cases and 11 cases of positive HCV-related markers, the prevalence of anti-HBs and/or anti-HBc was significantly higher in LC patients with HCC (85.4%) than those without HCC (43.2%, P < 0.001). These results show a high prevalence of hepatitis B and C viral markers in Japanese patients with HCC and further indicate that previous HBV infection is a risk factor in the occurrence of HCC in HBsAg-negative LC and LC with positive HCV-related markers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsuzaki
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Osuga
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Aikawa
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mitamura
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000382:microbiology*; D005260:Female; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000276:immunology; D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies / Q000097:blood; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology*; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000382:microbiology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000382:microbiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D006508:Hepatitis Antibodies; D006510:Hepatitis B Antibodies; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies