HBV-DNA SEQUENCES IN TUMOR AND NONTUMOR TISSUE IN A PATIENT WITH THE FIBROLAMELLAR VARIANT OF HEPATOCELLULAR-CARCINOMA

One patient with the fibrolamellar variant of hepatocellular carcinoma was found to be seropositive for HBsAg and anti‐HBe. DNA from tumor and nontumor areas of the liver was examined by molecular hybridization for hepatitis B virus DNA sequences. Undigested DNA from the tumor gave a high‐molecular‐weight smear, and restriction‐enzyme analysis indicated a single instance of integration. Nontumor liver tissue was analyzed from three separate areas. Hepatitis B virus DNA was detected in two of these; restriction‐enzyme digestion suggested they contained different sites of viral integration. As with the typical hepatitis B virus—related hepatocellular carcinoma, analysis of hepatitis B virus DNA from nontumorous liver yielded a different pattern of high‐molecular‐weight bands, indicating that the virus genome had integrated at different chromosomal locations than that seen in the tumor. The finding of integrated hepatitis B virus DNA, especially in tumorous but also in nontumorous liver, would be consistent with an oncogenic role for hepatitis B virus in certain instances of fibrolamellar tumors and in the more typical hepatitis B virus—related hepatocellular carcinoma. (HEPATOLOGY 1990;12:676–679). Copyright © 1990 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases