EVIDENCE FOR INCREASED SOMATIC-CELL MUTATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA

The measurement of somatic cell mutation may assist in the assessment of human cancer risk. The glycophorin A (GPA) assay, which measures th e frequency of variant erythrocytes in persons with blood type MN, was used to directly assess in vivo mutability in 30 patients with hepato cellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC patients showed significantly increased frequencies of both hemizygous (MO) and homozygous (MM) variants, due to somatic loss of expression of the N allele, when compared with 27 p atients with chronic liver disease and 21 healthy controls, The mean e levations of the MO and MM variant frequencies (VF) in HCC patients we re 2-3-foId greater than the comparable VF in the control groups, The mean MO and MM VF in the patients with chronic liver disease was sligh tly elevated compared to that in healthy controls, but the difference was not significant, In the 19 anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive p atients with a history of blood transfusion, significant linear relati ons between VF and the duration of HCV infection were observed for MO and MM, These data indicate a high background frequency of somatic mut ations in HCC patients. The GPA assay may prove to be a useful estimat ion of the individual's risk of development of HCC.