Hepatitis B virus antigens in human primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues

The presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigens was examined in specimens of liver tissue obtained at necropsy from black Senegalese patients suffering from primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC). The results were correlated with markers of hepatitis B infection in serum. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and core antigen (HBcAg) were sought for in 15 liver extracts. HBsAg was found in the liver in 10 of 12 cases with HBsAg-positive serum. HBcAg was detected in three livers. The HBsAg was detected in seven of eight livers by immunofluorescence and orcein staining. HBsAg-positive cells were mainly located in the peri-tumoral cirrhotic tissue, although positive hepatocytes were also found in tumour nodules in liver from one of the patients. HBcAg was found in five of seven cases by immunofluorescence in hepatocytes of the cirrhotic areas. HBcAg fluorescence was primarily nuclear but, in some lobules, a patchy cytoplasmic fluorescence was observed. This suggests a cytoplasm-nucleus pathway in the synthesis of the HBV core antigen. Electron microscopy was performed on two HBsAg- and HBcAg-positive cases. Fibrillar and crystalline cytoplasmic inclusions were observed in tumour cells. In the same cells, 20-25 nm virus-like particles were present in swollen cisternae of the endoplasmic reticulum.