DIFFERENT VIRAL ETIOLOGY OF HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA BETWEEN 2 HEPATITIS-B AND HEPATITIS-C ENDEMIC TOWNSHIPS IN TAIWAN

In Taiwan, we found two hepatitis B virus (HBV)- and hepatitis C virus (HCV)-endemic townships, Paisha and Tzukuan, with an anti-HCV prevale nce of 19 and 37% in men, and 26 and 38% in women, respectively. The h epatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-positive rates were 25 and 18%, for men and women in Paisha, and 25 and 22% in Tzukuan, respectively. Acc ording to the national death certification database (1982 to 1991), th e annual age-adjusted mortality rates per 100 000 population for liver cancer among men and women were 83.0 and 13.8, respectively, in Paish a, and 55.9 and 17.0 in Tzukuan compared with 30.9 and 9.1 in Taiwan a s a whole. The male-to-female ratios were 6.0 in Paisha and 3.3 in Tzu kuan. Aetiology of 11 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) from Pai sha and 14 cases from Tzukuan were analysed. All HCC cases from Paisha were HBsAg positive, while 13/14 HCC cases from Tzukuan were anti-HCV positive. The endemic duration of HCV in Tzukuan seemed long enough t o induce HCC, but the HCV appeared to be a newly introduced infection in Paisha.