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A high prevalence of antibody to the hepatitis C virus in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma in Japan
Author(s) -
Nishioka Kusuya,
Watanabe Junnosuke,
Furuta Seiichi,
Tanaka Eiji,
Iino Shiro,
Suzuki Hiroshi,
Tsuji Takao,
Yano Michitami,
Kuo George,
Choo QuiLim,
Houghton Michael,
Oda Toshitsugu
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19910115)67:2<429::aid-cncr2820670218>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatocellular carcinoma , antibody , virology , hepatitis c virus , hepatitis virus , hepatitis a virus , virus , hepatitis , immunology
In Japan, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers, with a reported fatality rate showing a consistent and significant increase in the last decade. At most, only 25% of HCC cases are positive for the hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). To investigate a potential role for hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the development of HCC, sera from 105 HBsAg‐negative HCC patients were collected from five districts of Japan and assayed for antibody to HCV antigen (HCVAb). A large number of these patients (76.2%) were found to be positive for the HCVAb in comparison with the reported prevalence in sera from blood donors (1.1%). A history of blood transfusion was found in 39.6% of the cases positive for HCVAb, which was significantly different to the lower rate (4.7%) observed in HCC patients who were both positive for HBsAg and negative for HCVAb ( P < 0.001).