Background: A substantial population of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients is negative for markers of hepatitis B virus and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection (non-B non-C hepatitis virus [NBC]).
Methods: Clinicopathologic data and outcomes were compared retrospectively for HCC patients with hepatitis B virus, HCV, and NBC who had undergone hepatectomy.
Results: The TNM stage was significantly higher, and the prevalence of cirrhosis was significantly lower, in the NBC group compared with the HCV group. Among patients with a maximum tumor diameter of 5 cm or less, the survival rates were significantly higher in the NBC group than in the HCV group. Multivariate analysis revealed that preoperative serum des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) level was a prognostic factor for survival in NBC-HCC patients. The DCP/tumor size ratio was significantly higher in NBC-HCC patients with normal liver histology than in patients with hepatitis or cirrhosis.
Conclusions: NBC-HCC patients had more advanced tumors compared with HCV-HCC patients, but significantly higher survival rates. Measurement of DCP potentially is significant for early diagnosis of NBC HCC, which may increase the chance of curative therapy without recurrence.
Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.