Cholangiocarcinoma with a background of hepatitis B virus-associated cirrhosis

Recently, hepatitis virus-associated chronic hepatitis or cirrhosis has bee n suggested to be involved in the pathogenesis of cholangiocarcinoma (CC). A 52-year-old man was diagnosed as CC with a background of hepatitis B viru s (HBV)-dependent cirrhosis, A minute hepatic tumor was found during the fo llow-up, and was diagnosed as CC on percutaneous biopsy. The patient died o f hepatic failure and an autopsy revealed the tumor to be a well to moderat ely differentiated adenocarcinoma. An immunohistological analysis of HBV X gene-encoded protein (HBX) was neither detected in the cancerous nor in the noncancerous tissue. No oncogenic role of the virus was verified in this c ase.