Impact of hepatitis B and C virus infection on the clinical prognosis of alcoholic liver cirrhosis.

To elucidate the rates of appearance of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and the prognosis of alcoholic liver cirrhosis upon infection with hepatitis virus, we retrospectively studied 190 consecutive patients. The patients were divided into three groups based on whether they were exposed either to hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) or not. The cumulative survival rate of the alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was significantly lower than that in those with hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV). Most alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients without hepatitis virus infection died of liver failure, gastrointestinal (G1) bleeding, or other diseases. However, alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients with anti-HCV tended to die of HCC. The cumulative HCC appearance rate in alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients without HBsAg or anti-HCV was 7% at the end of the fifth year after the diagnosis of cirrhosis and 15% at the end of the tenth year. However; the HCC appearance rate was about 20% at the end of the fifth year after the diagnosis of cirrhosis and about 50% at the end of the tenth year in both alcohol drinkers with HBsAg or anti-HCV. These data suggest that hepatitis virus infection may modify the prognosis for alcoholic liver cirrhosis patients, especially in the development of carcinogenesis.