Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 30, 2026

"Liver-on-a-Chip" Cultures of Primary Hepatocytes and Kupffer Cells for Hepatitis B Virus Infection
Published on: February 19, 2019
Hepatitis B virus gene in liver tissue promotes hepatocellular carcinoma development in chronic hepatitis C patients
Shin-Ichi Fujioka1, Hiroyuki Shimomura, Yoshiaki Iwasaki
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Okayama University Medical School, Okayama, Japan.
Abstract:
The hepatitis B virus (HBV) gene has been detected in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissue negative for the hepatitis B surface antigen and positive for the hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody, but the precise role of the HBV gene in hepatocarcinogenesis has yet to be clarified. We studied the HBV gene in liver tissue several years before the emergence of HCC. Eleven patients diagnosed with HCV-positive chronic liver disease and who developed HCC were assigned to group A. HBV DNA was detected in 8 of the 11 patients (73%). Twenty-five patients, who did not develop HCC, were selected as group B. Six of the group B patients were classified as DNA-positive (24%). The HBV DNA in liver tissue was found to be significantly related to HCC development (P < 0.01). Thus, the presence of the HBV gene in patients with chronic HCV associated-liver injury appears to promote hepatocarcinogenesis, although prospective studies are needed to confirm this result.
Related Concept Videos
Hepatitis
Viral Hepatitis I: Introduction
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers
Mechanisms of Retrovirus-induced Cancers
Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV) and Cancer
RSV is a retrovirus that contains two copies of a plus-strand RNA genome. Its genome consists of four main open...
Liver Regeneration
Cells of Liver
The liver comprises four major types of cells— hepatocytes, stellate, Kupffer, and sinusoidal endothelial cells. The hepatocytes are large...

