Characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with negative virus markers: Clinicopathologic study of resected tumors

Fifty-one cases of resected hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were retrospecti vely analyzed to evaluate the clinicopathologic features of HCC in patients with negative virus markers. The data were compared between three groups: hepatitis B surface antigen positive (HB, n = 11), hepatitis C virus antibo dy positive (HC, n = 21), and non-PC (both HbsAg and HCVAb negative, n = 12 ). Seven patients were excluded from the study because of operative death ( n = 3), a history of alcohol abuse (n = 3), or the presence of dual positiv e HE and HC virus markers (n = 1), The data were analyzed by either an anal ysis of variance (ANOVA) or a contingency table. The age of the non-PC pati ents was higher (63.0 +/- 4.1, +/- SE) than that of HB patients (54.0 +/- 3 .2, p < 0.05) but was identical to that of the HC group (62.0 +/- 1.8). Amo ng the preoperative laboratory data, the serum glutamic oxaloacetate and gl utamate pyruvate transaminoses (GOT, GPT) levels were statistically lower i n the non-PC patients (32.8 +/- 4.8 and 28.0 +/- 4.4 IU/L, respectively) th an in the HE and HC patients. The pathologic features of the resected speci mens in the non-PC patients showed more invasive growth than in specimens f rom the HE or HC patients. The clinical stages (defined based on the criter ia of the Japanese Association of Hepatocellular Carcinoma) were also more advanced in the non-PC patients than in the other groups. Postoperative sur vival time show ed no significant difference among the groups. In conclusio n, the non-PC patients had comparatively greater invasive growth and more a dvanced clinical stages than the HE and HC patients, despite the absence of liver cirrhosis, and so demonstrated the same poor survival data as observ ed in the HE and HC patients.