title: The prevalence of hepatitis G virus in cancer patients.
abstract: Hepatitis G virus (HGV) is transfusion-transmissible and has a global distribution. However, its frequency and clinical impact have not been well established in extrahepatic cancer patients. In this study, we determined the prevalence of HGV RNA positivity, and its relationship with history of transfusion, amount of transfusion, age and sex in patients with hematological and solid malignancies in Southeastern Turkey. Sixty-one patients (35 males and 26 females) followed up for various malignancies and 60 healthy subjects were included in the study. HGV RNA was investigated by the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. HGV RNA was detected in none of the patients with cancer (0%) and only one person (1.6%) in the control group. There was no difference between the groups. This observation indicates that the prevalence of HGV is very low in cancer patients and healthy people in our geographical area. In addition, the role of HGV in the pathogenesis of extrahepatic malignancies seems insignificant.
authors.affiliation: Gaziantep University, Medical Faculty, Department of Molecular Biology, Gaziantep, Turkey.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Büyükberber
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Büyükberber
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kadayifci
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Guney
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Camci
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Balkan
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kubar
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Turk
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sevinc
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D018178:Flaviviridae Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000821:virology; D029407:GB virus C / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000150:complications* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral