BACKGROUND: Although serum antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) is found in many patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, the actual roles of HCV in carcinogenesis are unknown. METHODS: With reverse transcription followed by the polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), HCV RNA was examined in the sera and liver tissues of 16 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who did not have hepatitis B virus markers, 13 of whom had anti-HCV. RESULTS: In the 13 patients with anti-HCV, the HCV genomic plus-strand RNA was detected more frequently in noncancerous tissues (8 patients, 61.5%) and in sera (6 patients, 46.2%) than in cancerous tissues (3 patients, 23.1%). No viral RNA was found in either sera or tissues in the three patients without anti-HCV. By using a sense primer for the RT in the RT-PCR assay, amplification was attempted of a putative complementary minus-strand RNA that is believed to reflect viral replication in the eight patients with the plus-strand RNA. The minus-strand RNA was found in the noncancerous tissues of six patients; it was not detected in the cancerous tissues. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that HCV can infect and replicate predominantly in noncancerous cells but rarely in tumor cells.
BACKGROUND: Although serum antibody to hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) is found in many patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, the actual roles of HCV in carcinogenesis are unknown. METHODS: With reverse transcription followed by the polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), HCV RNA was examined in the sera and liver tissues of 16 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who did not have hepatitis B virus markers, 13 of whom had anti-HCV. RESULTS: In the 13 patients with anti-HCV, the HCV genomic plus-strand RNA was detected more frequently in noncancerous tissues (8 patients, 61.5%) and in sera (6 patients, 46.2%) than in cancerous tissues (3 patients, 23.1%). No viral RNA was found in either sera or tissues in the three patients without anti-HCV. By using a sense primer for the RT in the RT-PCR assay, amplification was attempted of a putative complementary minus-strand RNA that is believed to reflect viral replication in the eight patients with the plus-strand RNA. The minus-strand RNA was found in the noncancerous tissues of six patients; it was not detected in the cancerous tissues. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that HCV can infect and replicate predominantly in noncancerous cells but rarely in tumor cells.
Authors: Keigo Machida; George McNamara; Kevin T-H Cheng; Jeffrey Huang; Chun-Hsiang Wang; Lucio Comai; Jing-Hsiung James Ou; Michael M C Lai Journal: J Immunol Date: 2010-10-25 Impact factor: 5.422
Authors: H Onodera; K Ukai; N Nakano; T Takeda; H Suzuki; T Okata; T Motojima; I Kuwashima; S Ujiie; T Shoji Journal: Cancer Chemother Pharmacol Date: 1994 Impact factor: 3.333
Authors: Keigo Machida; Kevin T-N Cheng; Vicky M-H Sung; Shigetaka Shimodaira; Karen L Lindsay; Alexandra M Levine; Ming-Yang Lai; Michael M C Lai Journal: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Date: 2004-03-03 Impact factor: 11.205
Authors: Keigo Machida; Jian-Chang Liu; George McNamara; Alexandra Levine; Lewei Duan; Michael M C Lai Journal: J Virol Date: 2009-09-30 Impact factor: 5.103