Hepatocellular carcinoma and the hepatitis B virus: a study of British patients.

We have examined the relationship between hepatitis B virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma in a series of 50 British patients with histologically-proven hepatocellular carcinoma. Serum HBsAg was detected in 10 patients (20 per cent), and of the remainder, 21 per cent of those tested had serological evidence of past hepatitis B virus exposure. None of nine tumour specimens from serum HBsAg negative patients had detectable HBV-DNA integration into the tumour cell genome. The presence or absence of serum HBsAg was of no prognostic significance in British patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver cell dysplasia, a possible pre-malignant lesion, was noted in 53 per cent of patients who had had liver biopsies before the diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma, and in 79 per cent of biopsies taken at the time of diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. The presence of liver cell dysplasia was not more common in serum HBsAg positive patients.