Hepatitis C virus antibody in patients with primary liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma, and combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma) in Japan

Background. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a high prevalence of hepatitis C virus antibody (anti-HCV) has been reported, indicating that it may be an important etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of HCC. In this study, the authors investigated the prevalence of anti-HCV in HCC patients, as well as the same prevalence in patients with cholangiocarcinoma (CC) and combined hepatocellular–cholangiocarcinoma (combined HCC-CC), to study the clinicopathologic features of anti-HCV–positive cases. Methods. The authors examined 141 patients with primary liver cancer who were pathologically diagnosed as having HCC (121 cases), CC (13 cases), or combined HCC-CC (7 cases). Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and anti-HCV were measured in these patients. Results. Of 121 HCC cases, 85 (70.3%) were found to be anti-HCV positive, 16 (13.2%) were HBsAg positive, and 5 (4.1%) were both anti-HCV and HBsAg positive. In 13 cases with CC and in 7 with combined HCC-CC examined, 4 (30.8%) and 5 (71.4%), respectively, were anti-HCV positive. Conclusions. The anti-HCV–positive rate was high in combined HCC-CC as well as in HCC. These three types of primary liver cancer, which were anti-HCV positive, shared two common features: male dominance and high incidences of complication with liver cirrhosis.