title: Pre-S2 deletions of hepatitis B virus and hepatocellular carcinoma in children.
abstract: The cause of early oncogenesis in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related childhood hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. This study investigated whether pre-S deletion of HBV is related to childhood HCC. By using nested polymerase chain reaction, we compared the pre-S sequence of HBV from sera of children with HCC against control children with similar chronic HBV infection. The HBV in sera of children with HCC had a significantly higher rate of pre-S deletion than that of children with chronic HBV infection (p = 0.008). All except one of the pre-S deletions from the HCC group involved the pre-S2 region, whereas no pre-S2 deletion was found in the chronic HBV group (p = 0.003). There was a trend whereby genotype-C sera had a higher rate of pre-S2 deletion than genotype-B sera (p = 0.11). A multivariate logistic regression model revealed that pre-S deletion was an independent risk factor for HCC in children (odds ratio: 36.69, p = 0.015). In conclusion, pre-S2 deletion does not need to take decades to occur; its presence in nearly half of children with HCC, in contrast to its absence in children with chronic HBV infection, suggests a link between pre-S2 deletion and HCC development in children.
  
  
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authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Research, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 100, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsiang-Po
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Hong-Yuan
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: Chi-Ling
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Yen-Hsuan
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ni
authors.forename: Hurng-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Daw-Jen
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Tsuei
authors.forename: Cheng-Lun
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Chiang
authors.forename: Yi-Chen
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.forename: Huey-Ling
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Mei-Hwei
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Chang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001483:Base Sequence; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000821:virology*; D002648:Child; D017931:DNA Primers; D005260:Female; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens / Q000235:genetics*; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011498:Protein Precursors / Q000235:genetics*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D017931:DNA Primers; D006514:Hepatitis B Surface Antigens; D011498:Protein Precursors; C050807:presurface protein 2, hepatitis B surface antigen