Risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma according to the titer of antibody to hepatitis C virus

Hepatitis C virus infection has been reported to be one of the main risk factor for developing hepatocellular carcinoma in Japan. The aim of the study was to examine the differences in the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma according to the titer of antibody to HCV.

A total of 13,173 inhabitants had their titers of anti-HCV examined based on a second generation passive hemagglutination assay, and we thus found 1,758 inhabitants whose anti-HCV titers were equal to or above 2(5). After carefully comparing our findings with the list of hepatocellular carcinoma in the Saga Prefectural Cancer Registry, we ascertained 45 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (males 37, females 8). The logistic regression model was used to estimate the Odds ratio of risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma.

The risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in the subjects from 60-69 years of age was significantly higher than in the other age groups (Odds ratio = 3.88, P < 0.01). The risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in the males was also significantly higher than in the females (Odds ratio = 8.96, P < 0.001). The risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in the subjects with a titer of anti-HCV equal to or above 2(12) was significantly higher than in the subjects with a titer of less than 2(12) (Odds ratio = 33.46, P < 0.001). Furthermore, the age- and sex-adjusted risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma for the subjects with a titer equal to or above 2(12) was significantly higher than that for subjects with a titer of less than 2(12) (Odds ratio = 32.56, P < 0.001).

The risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma was significantly high in the subjects with a titer equal to or above 2(12). To measure the titer of anti-HCV is thus considered to be useful for effectively detecting infection in a mass screening program.