Hepatitis-B surface antigen and antibody in Bantu patients with primary hepatocellular cancer

Hepatitis-B surface antigen (HBsAg) was found in the serum of 58 of 158 (36-4%) southern African Bantu patients with primary hepatocellular cancer by counter immunoelectrophoresis and in 94 (59-5%) by radioimmunoassay (RIA). The prevalence of this antigen in the general Bantu population using these methods was 7% and 9% respectively. Antibody against HBsAg was detected in 11-6% of the patients by passive haemagglutination (PH) and 13-4% by RIA, and in 33-4% (by PH) of a control population. Antibody sub-types were predominantly "adw" (69-2%) with a lesser frequency of "ayw" (23%), while 7-8% were indeterminate. The corresponding figures in the controls were 80-4, 8-4 and 11-2%. HBsAg was more common in younger patients. No relationship could be demonstrated between hepatitis-B antigenaemia and the presence of alpha-foetoprotein in high concentration, although there were far fewer patients in the alpha-foetoprotein-negative group.