Abstract
The prevelence of hepatitis B and C virus (HBV and HCV) infections was studied in 46 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and 30 controls without liver disease. In addition to viral serological markers, Serum hepatitis B virus DNA and hepatitis C virus RNA were determined with a nested polymerase chain reaction assay. The positive rates of HBV-DNA and HBV serological markers were 69.5% and 76.1% respectively, significantly higher than that in controls (16.7% and 16.7%,P<0.01); 14 patients (30.4%) were HCV-RNA positive, and 12 patients were Anti-HCV positive, remarkablely higher than that in controls, too. (6.7% and 6.7% respectively,P<0.05). Serum HBV-DNA were all positive in HCC patients with serum HBeAg and/or HBcAb positive. Among HCC, 20% of HBV seronegative cases had HBV-DNA detectable in their serum. Coinfection by the two viruses was detected in seven subjects (15.2%), but no clinical differences were found between these and the rest of patients. We concluded that nearly 95.6% (44 of 46 patients studied) of cases of HCC in our geographical area are related to hepatitis infections. Hepatitis B virus is more prevelent than hepatitis C virus in patients with HCC, and the infection is still active when the tumor is diagnosed. This fact is probably important in the contribution of hepatitis B and C virus infections to the development of hepatocellular carcinoma.
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