Low prevalence of hepatitis C infection in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases and population controls in Guangxi a hyperendemic region for HCC in the Peoples Republic of China.

摘要

Southern Guangxi, China has one of the highest incidences of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the world. Serum samples collected from subjects of an earlier case-control study (39 cases, 41 controls) and from a random sampling of a residential male cohort (n = 100) were tested for antibodies for the hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) using ELISA version 2.0 with confirmation by RIBA version 2.0. Only one of 141 (0.7%, upper 95% confidence limit, 3.2%) control subjects and none of 39 (upper 95% confidence limit, 6.07%) HCC cases tested positive for anti-HCV. Our results indicate that hepatitis C infection is not an important environmental determinant of HCC risk in this hyperendemic region.