Abstract
The positive rates of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody to
hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) were analyzed according to year, sex, age, and
serum ALT levels in 1,370 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who
visited the Korea Cancer Center Hospital between January 1989 and December 1994.
The positive rate of HBsAg was 68.8 to 76.0% per year in patients with HCC,
while that of anti-HCV was 3.2 to 9.8% per year. No sex predominance was found
in the positive rates of HBsAg and anti-HCV. HBsAg positivity was distributed
mostly in the 41 to 50 age group, whereas anti-HCV positivity was distributed
mostly in the over 50 age group. Higher positive rate of anti-HCV was observed
in HCC patients with serum ALT levels above the normal range than in those with
serum ALT levels within the normal range. However, elevated serum ALT levels
above the normal range was not related to the positive rate of HBsAg. The
relatively low prevalence of anti-HCV in patients with HCC suggests that the
role of HCV infection in the development of HCC lower than that of HBV infection
in Korea. However, our results suggest that HCV is another potent risk factor
for HCC even in HBV endemic areas.