Hepatitis B antigen in the liver cells in cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma

The demonstration of hepatitis B antigen in the liver cells in formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues by Shikata's orcein staining method affords an opportunity to conduct retrospective studies on necrospy materials. Such a study in Singapore showed orcein-positive liver cells in 22 out of 52 (42.3%) and 37 out of 50 (74.0%) cases of cirrhosis of the liver and hepatocellular carcinoma respectively, while only 5 out of 113 (4.4%) 'normal' livers gave positive results. There is a significant difference in the frequency of hepatocellular carcinoma in orcein-positive and orcein-negative cirrhotic livers (28 out of 50, 10 out of 40 respectively). These results suggest a possible aetiological relationship between hepatitis B antigen and hepatocellular carcinoma.