Hepatitis B virus profile of hepatocellular carcinoma in the philippines

Abstract

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) profile was investigated in 104 age-grouped hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients and 84 controls from the Philippines. The HCC-control percent positivities of the HBV parameters are: HBsAg: 70-18; anti-HBs: 25-37; anti-HBs: 25-37; anti-HBc: 94-35; HBeAg: 5-2; anti-HBe: 60-30; HBV exposure rate: 97-57; current infection: 80-31. Male HCC anti-HBs positivity is significantly lower than in controls. Female HCC patients' anti-HBs are also lower than controls, but this difference is not statistically significant. Simultaneous presence of HBsAg and anti-HBs was found only in male HCC patients. The mean anti-HBc titer of anti-HBs-positive HCC is higher than that of controls. That of HCC patients negative for both HBsAg and anti-HBs is also higher than the corresponding controls. Anti-HBe positivities of infected and noninfected but previously exposed HCC patients are not significantly different, in contrast to noninfected previously exposed controls whose anti-HBe is lower than those with current infection. The exposure rate prevalence of current infection, and the antibody responses to HBV of HCC patients suggested a close relationship between the two conditions in the Philippines.

Hepatitis B Antigens and Antibodies in Serum from 41 Cases of Primary Carcinoma of the Liver

“…Thirty-six, or 97.396, of our patients with HCC had anti-HBc in their serum, 22 of these in a high concentration of over lo3. Similar result$ have been reported from the Philippines (94%; controls, 37%) (12) and from South Africa (89%; controls, 37.5%) (14). The high concentration of anti-HBc is taken as a sign of active replication of hepatitis B virus (HBV).…”

“…The anti-HBs positivity of 53.9% of the HBsAg-negative cases is of the same magnitude as that of other series from regions with a high incidence of H C C (11,12). It is similar to (12) or somewhat lower than (12,14) that found in control materials.…”

“…It is similar to (12) or somewhat lower than (12,14) that found in control materials. Thirty-six, or 97.396, of our patients with HCC had anti-HBc in their serum, 22 of these in a high concentration of over lo3.…”

“…and in Malawi, 43.8% (controls, 11.4%) (10). In Asia, 98.6% of patients with HCC were HBsAgpositive (controls, 14.7%) in a study from Taiwan (1 l), and 70.0% (controls, 18.0%) in a study from the Philippines (12). In Thailand, HBsAg was found in the serum of 2.3% of hospital patients without liver diseases (13).…”

Delta agent and the etiology of hepatocellular carcinoma

“…There are conflicting reports in the literature concerning the relative frequency of HBeAg among HBsAg-positive HCC cases and HBsAg-positive healthy controls; some authors report higher frequency among HBsAg-positive HCC cases (Lingao et al, 1981;Chung et al, 1983;Kew et al, 1984), and some report higher frequency among HBsAg-positive controls (Chu et al, 1983;Musca et al, 1983;Liaw et al, 1984;Kim et al, 1985), whereas others find no remarkable or statistically significant differences between the two groups . In the present study serum HBeAg was found in a higher proportion among HBsAg-positive HCC cases than among HBsAg-positive controls; the finding is intriguing since it is the ''latent'' anti-HBe-related type of HBV infection which is more frequently associated with hepatocarcinogenesis (Maupas et al, 1977;Chu et al, 1983;Musca et al, 1983;Shafritz and Hadziyannis, 1984).…”