Alpha 1-antitrypsin phenotypes in cirrhosis and hepatoma.

The phenotypic distribution of alpha-1-antitrypsin variants has been studied in 101 patients with cirrhosis and in 50 with cirrhosis plus hepatoma. 504 healthy Greeks served as controls. The ZZ and MZ phenotypes were found only once in the group of cirrhosis. The very low PiZ gene frequency suggests that the association of PiZ gene with cirrhosis is fortuitous. The FM phenotype has been observed in 14% of patients with hepatoma arised on cirrhosis and this incidence differed significantly between the two groups of patients and the controls. It is possible that cirrhotic patients phenotypically FM develop for as yet unknown reasons hepatoma in high percentage.