Microsatellite alterations in human hepatocellular carcinoma infected withhepatitis B virus: Associated with the elevation of serum alpha-fetoprotein

Identification of the basic genetic changes in human hepatocellular carcino ma (HCC) is very important for the understanding of this cancer. In this st udy, genomic DNA from 29 pairs of HCC and corresponding non-tumour tissues infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV) was prepared. Five CA-repeated micros atellite markers, including D8S277, D3S1029, D5S409, D2S123, and TP53, were used to analyse microsatellite alterations and their subtypes in these pat ients by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and denatured polyac rylamide gel electrophoresis. Microsatellite alterations were found in 15 o f the 29 HCC patients (51.72%), implying that microsatellites are unstable in genomic DNA of HBV-infected HCC. It was found that frequency of microsat ellite alterations in these HCC patients was not associated with patients' age, sex, status of tumour differentiation, and tumour size. Frequency of m icrosatellite alterations in HCC patients with cirrhosis tended to be less than that in patients without cirrhosis, but Fisher's exact test, 2-tailed, showed that this difference was not significant. Significantly more micros atellite alterations in serum alpha -fetoprotein (AFP)-positive cases were observed than those in serum AFP-negative ones, implying that the elevation of AFP in HBV-infected HCC may be associated with microsatellite stability .