A low prevalence of anti-hepatitis C virus antibody in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in Guangxi Province, southern China.

Abstract

The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in southern China, including Guangxi Province, is among the highest in the world. Investigations of the etiology of HCC in this area have focused on hepatitis B virus (HBV) and aflatoxin. However, hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been shown to be a possible pathogenic agent for HCC in a number of countries. Antibodies to HCV (anti-HCV), determined by second-generation enzyme immunoassay, and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) were assayed in the sera of 186 patients with HCC and 48 healthy control subjects from Guangxi Province in southern China. HBsAg was detected in 131 (70.4%) of 186 patients with HCC, whereas only 10 (5.4%) patients were found to be positive for anti-HCV. The prevalence of anti-HCV in patients with HBsAg-positive HCC was 6.9% (9 of 131) and that in patients with HBsAg-negative HCC was 1.8% (1 of 55); there was no significant difference between these two groups. Anti-HCV was not detected in any of the healthy control subjects, in whom the prevalence of HBsAg was 10.4% (5 of 48). These findings indicate that HCV does not seem to play an important role in the development of HCC in Guangxi Province; however, HBV infection appears to be a major pathogenic factor for HCC in this area.