title: The low positive rate of serum alpha-fetoprotein levels in hepatitis C virus antibody-positive patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
abstract: We analyzed the clinicopathological factors influencing the serum AFP levels at the time of diagnosis in 114 patients with resected HCC. The proportion of HCC patients with high serum AFP levels (> 100 ng/ml) has been steadily decreasing from a rate of 57.2% in 1980 to 33.3% in 1993. A significant relationship was noted between the serum AFP levels and the virus marker (p < 0.01) based on a multivariate analysis. The proportion of HCC patients with high serum AFP levels was significantly less in anti-HCV- positive HCC patients than in HBsAg-positive HCC patients (p < 0.01). The proportion of HBsAg-positive HCC patients has been steadily decreasing from a rate of 48% in 1980 to 15% in 1993. In contrast, the proportion of anti-HCV-positive HCC patients was 69% in 1993. It is thus assumed that the prevalence of anti-HCV-positive HCC patients is increasing recently, based on the fact that the incidence of HCC patients with high serum AFP levels is decreasing.
authors: Department of Surgery II, Nagasaki University School of Medicine, Japan.
authors: J
authors: J
authors: Furui
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Furukawa
authors: T
authors: T
authors: Kanematsu
mesh_terms: D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000097:blood; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D018937:Hepatitis C Antibodies; D000509:alpha-Fetoproteins