A clinicpathological study of hepatocellular carcinoma in Nagasaki, south-western Japan: the association of hepatitis B and C viruses.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent cancers in Japan as well as Southeast Asia and Africa. On 89 patients with HCC in the Nagasaki City area were performed serological examinations and histopathological studies. The number of HBsAg positive and anti-HCV positive was three (3%), HBsAg positive and anti-HCV negative 21 (24%), HBsAg negative and anti-HCV positive 58 (65%) and HBsAg negative and anti-HCV negative seven (8%). These results strongly suggest that HCV infection is a more important factor in the development of HCC than HBV infection. The HBsAg negative and anti-HCV positive group showed a higher mean age and a higher male to female ratio than the HBsAg positive and anti-HCV negative group. Histological examinations showed no differences between these two groups. In addition, all cases were complicated with chronic hepatitis (CH) or liver cirrhosis (LC) in adjacent liver tissue. These findings suggest that CH and LC seem to play an important role in the pathogenesis of HCC.