Hepatitis B virus: pathogenesis and prevention of primary cancer of the liver.

The currently available data indicate that persistent infection of the liver with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is involved in the etiology and pathogenesis of nearly all primary hepatocellular carcinomas in humans. Immunization of high risk populations with the hepatitis B vaccine and prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HBV with hepatitis B immunoglobulin should prevent the development of chronic hepatitis B infection and, therefore, should also prevent the development of hepatocellular carcinoma. How HBV "causes" cancer of the liver is unknown. Research on the role of HBV in hepatocarcinogenesis may provide information on how HBV and other viruses induce cancer and may lead to the discovery of other virus-cancer relationships in humans.