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World J Gastroenterol. Mar 28, 2007; 13(12): 1870-1874
Published online Mar 28, 2007. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v13.i12.1870
Significance of hepatitis B virus surface antigen, hepatitis C virus expression in hepatocellular carcinoma and pericarcinomatous tissues
Shi-Ying Xuan, Yong-Ning Xin, Hua Chen, Guang-Jun Shi, Hua-Shi Guan, Yang Li
Shi-Ying Xuan, Hua-Shi Guan, College of Medicine and Pharmaceutics, Ocean University of China, 5 Yushan Road, Qingdao 266003, Shandong Province, China
Shi-Ying Xuan, Yong-Ning Xin, Hua Chen, Guang-Jun Shi, Yang Li, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao 266021, Shandong Province, China
Author contributions: All authors contributed equally to the work.
Correspondence to: Yang Li, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, Qingdao University Medical College, Qingdao 266021, Shandong Province, China. qdslyyly@163.com
Telephone: +86-532-88905508 Fax: +86-532-82031522
Received: January 1, 2007
Revised: January 6, 2007
Accepted: March 6, 2007
Published online: March 28, 2007
Abstract

AIM: To investigate the correlation between hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C virus (HCV) expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the HAI score of the noncancerous region of the liver and the serum Alpha fetoprotein (AFP) level.

METHODS: The patterns of HBsAg and HCV in 100 cases of HCC and their surrounding liver tissues were studied on paraffin-embedded sections with immuno-histochemistry, the histological status was determined by one pathologist and one surgeon simultaneously using the hepatitis activity index (HAI) score, and AFP was detected by radioimmunity. The study included 100 consecutive patients who underwent curative resection for HCC. Based on HBsAg and HCV expression, the patients were classified into 4 groups: patients positive for HBsAg (HBsAg group), patients positive for HCV (HCV group), patients negative for both HCV and HBsAg (NBNC group) and patients positive for both HBsAg and HCV (BC group).

RESULTS: The BC group had significantly higher HAI scores than the other three groups. (BC > HCV > HBsAg > NBNC). HBV and HCV virus infection was positively correlated with HAI (rs = 0.39, P = 0.0001). The positive rate of AFP (85.7%) and the value of AFP (541.2 ng/mL) in the group with HBV and HCV co-infection were the highest among the four groups. The positive rate (53.3%) of AFP and the value of AFP ( 53.3 ng/mL) in the group with none-infection of HBV and HCV were the lowest. HBV and HCV virus infection was positively correlated with AFP(rs = 0.38, P = 0.0001).

CONCLUSION: The AFP increase in patients with liver cancer was positively correlated with the infection of HBV and HCV. The serum AFP elevation by the infection of HBV and HCV is one of mechanisms which lead to hepatocarcinogenesis, and the antivirus intervening treatment of hepatitis is significant for the prognosis of liver cancer. From our Spearman’s rank correlation analysis, we can conclude that the severity of virally induced inflammation is correlated with HBsAg and HCV expression in HCC tissues and noncancerous tissues. Prior co-infection of HBV in HCV patients may be an adverse risk factor for intrahepatic inflammation.

Keywords: Hepatitis B virus surface antigen; Hepatitis C virus antigen; Histological activity index; Immunohisto-chemistry; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Alpha-fetoprotein.