Premium
Prevalence of hepatitis G virus in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma
Author(s) -
Müller C.,
Pfeffel F.,
PeckRadosavljevic M.,
Petermann D.,
Oesterreicher C.,
Pidlich J.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
journal of viral hepatitis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 100
eISSN - 1365-2893
pISSN - 1352-0504
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2893.1997.00071.x
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatocellular carcinoma , cirrhosis , hepatitis c virus , hepatitis b virus , gastroenterology , liver disease , virus , virology , chronic liver disease , hepatitis
Summary. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) are known to be associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), In this study, we investigated the prevalence of the newly described hepatitis G virus (HGV) in patients with HCC. The sera of 85 patients (66 male, 19 female, 61 ± 11 years) with HCC were studied for the presence of HGV RNA by reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction. Seventeen (20%) of 85 patients with HCC, 10 (16%) of 61 patients with chronic hepatitis B without HCC and 14 (20%) of 68 patients with chronic hepatitis C without HCC were infected with HGV, a significantly higher proportion when compared with two (2%) of 85 healthy controls ( P < 0.01). When grouped according to the underlying cause of liver disease, HCC patients with HBV infection (33%), HCV infection (21%), alcoholic liver disease (17%). or cryptogenic cirrhosis (15%) had similar serum levels of HGV RNA. Four of the 17 (24%) HGV‐positive patients with HCC were coinfected with HBV and six (35%) with HCV; thus, 59% of HGV‐positive patients with HCC were coinfected with other hepatotropic viruses. Seven (41%) HGV‐positive patients were infected with HGV only. Patients with HGV infection were more likely to have a history of blood transfusion than patients without HGV infection ( P = 0.024). Hence, the prevalence of HGV is significantly higher in patients with HCC in comparison with the healthy population.