(Ivanhoe Newswire) – Certain genetic mutations in the hepatitis B
virus (HBV) may help predict which patients with HBV infections are at
increased risk of developing liver cancer, according to a large study
conducted in Shanghai.
HBV infection is a known cause of the most common form of liver cancer,
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). There have been previous studies into
whether patients with specific mutations in the DNA of the hepatitis B virus
may be at increased risk of developing liver cancer, but the studies were
small and they produced conflicting results.
Recently, Guangwen Cao, M.D., Ph.D., of the Second Military Medical
University in Shanghai and colleagues analyzed 43 studies with a total of
11,582 HBV-infected participants, of whom 2,801 had HCC. The researchers
confirmed that certain viral DNA mutations were associated with development
of HCC. Researchers noted that genetic viral mutations became more prevalent
as chronic HBV infection progressed from the asymptomatic state to liver
cirrhosis or HCC.
"Frequent examination of patients with chronic HBV infections for the
presence of these mutations may be useful for identifying which patients
require preventive antiviral treatment and for the prediction of HCC," the
authors wrote in a press release.
SOURCE: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, July 2, 2009
