Genomic change in hepatitis B virus associated with development of hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM: To determine the genomic changes in hepatitis B virus(HBV) and evaluate their role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC) in patients chronically infected with genotype C HBV.METHODS: Two hundred and forty chronic hepatitis B(CHB) patients were subjected and followed for a median of 105 mo. HCC was diagnosed in accordance with AASLD guidelines. The whole X, S, basal core promoter(BCP), and precore regions of HBV were sequenced using the direct sequencing method.RESULTS: All of the subjects were infected with genotype C HBV. Out of 240 CHB patients, 25(10%) had C1653 T and 33(14%) had T1753 V mutation in X region; 157(65%) had A1762T/G1764 A mutations in BCP region, 50(21%) had G1896 A mutation in precore region and 67(28%) had pre-S deletions. HCC occurred in 6 patients(3%). The prevalence of T1753 V mutation was significantly higher in patients who developed HCC than in those without HCC. The cumulative occurrence rates of HCC were 5% and 19% at 10 and 15 years, respectively, in patients with T1753 V mutant, which were significantly higher than 1% and 1% in those with wild type HBV(P < 0.001).CONCLUSION: The presence of T1753 V mutation in HBV X-gene significantly increases the risk of HCC development in patients chronically infected with genotype C HBV.