Detection of hepatitis C virus cDNA sequence by the polymerase chain reaction in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues.

We found the presence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in liver tissues of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who had antibodies to HCV but no serological markers for hepatitis B virus infection by the sensitive reverse transcription/polymerase chain reaction (R/PCR) method. The primers used were derived from the non-structural (NS) 3 and/or the structural (C/E) region. Amplified cDNA sequences of HCV were detected in either cancerous or non-cancerous portion of liver tissues from four out of eight HCC patients with primers of NS3 region. Similar but less efficient results were obtained with primers of C/E region. These results indicate that HCV persists in the liver tissue of HCC. A possible role of persistent infection of HCV for the development of HCC is discussed.