A case/control study of the association between primary liver cancer and hepatitis B infection in Senegal

A case/control study has been carried out to determine by radioimmunoassay and passive hemagglutination techniques the prevalence of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody (anti-HBs) in patients with primary liver cancer (PLC) and age/sex-matched hospital controls with cancers of other sites (OCC) and similarly matched controls without cancer (NCC). HBsAg was found in 61.2% of 165 cases of PLC as compared to 11.7% of 328 NCC. The frequency of HBsAg in PLC patients was significantly higher (72.2%) in those with detectable alpha fetoprotein as compared to those without (40.3%). There was no difference in the frequency of HBsAg in PLC patients with and without accompanying cirrhosis. No significant difference in potential hepatitis exposure history was found in the three study groups.