Differences of hepatocellular carcinoma patients with hepatitis B virus genotypes of Ba, Bj or C in Japan

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes B (HBV/B) and C (HBV/ C) are prevalent in Asia. Recently HBV/ B has been classified into two subtypes, HBV/Ba which is ubiquitously found in Asia, and HBV/Bj which is specific in Japan. In addition, the frequency of positive HBeAg has been reported to be higher in patients with HBV/Ba than those with HBV/ Bj. However, little is known about the differences between patients with various genotypes who developed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In 296 serum samples of HCC patients collected from all over Japan, HBV genotypes were determined with the restriction fragment length polymorphism. HBV/A was detected in 1.0%, HBV/Ba in 4.4%, HBV/Bj in 7.4%, and HBV/C in 86.5%. In the Tohoku district and Okinawa, HBV/Ba, HBV/ Bj and HBV/ C were found in 6.7, 40.0 and 48.9%, compared to 4.0, 1.6 and 93.2% in the other districts in Japan. HBV/ Bj patients were more frequently found in the group older than 65 years while HBV/Ba patients were found in all age groups. The frequency of positive HBeAg in HBV/ Bj patients was significantly low compared to that in the other patients. More than 60% of the patients with HCC had cirrhosis as the underlying liver diseases. However, in HBV/ Ba patients aged 50 years or younger, 80% of them had chronic hepatitis, while 87.5% of those aged older than 50 years had cirrhosis. These data suggest that great differences exist among patients with HCC infected with different genotypes. Copyright (C) 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.