Aflatoxin, viral hepatitis and primary liver cancer

Thirty-eight cases of primary liver cancer (PLC) from the Department of Pathology, Charles University, Hradec Kralové were investigated. The viral hepatitis HBsAg antigen was found in the sera of 8 of the 38 patients. Radioimmunoassay demonstrated aflatoxin in 27 of 34 cases. Fluorescence microscopy revealed a fluorescence characteristic of aflatoxin and its fluorescent metabolites in the peritumoral tissue and the tumor for all of the cases studied. This study emphasizes the increasing incidence of PLC over the last 15 years. In addition, this type of cancer now appears to develop in a different manner: reduction in the number of cases with cirrhosis, progressive rise in the number of women affected, and occurrence of PLC in children and adolescents. These observations tend to indicate that aflatoxin might play a significant role in the genesis of PLC.