Objective: To describe and compare the hepatitis virus infection in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients receiving surgical operation in China and Japan.
Methods: Information of surgical HCC patients was retrieved from the medical records. The concerned characteristics of the HCC cases from two countries were described and compared.
Results: A total of 425 diagnosed cases that underwent surgical resection for HCC in China were investigated, and the corresponding cases in Japan were 247. The proportion of the hepatitis virus infection was 75.53% in patients with HCC from China. Within the infection cases, 91.28% were positive for HBsAg but negative for anti-HCV. The proportion was 82.59% in patients with HCC from Japan. Within the infection cases, 77.94% were positive for anti-HCV but negative for HBsAg. The proportion of hepatocirrhosis in the hepatitis virus infection patients with HCC were 89.10% and 68.14% in China and Japan, respectively.
Conclusion: The hepatitis B virus infection showed be a main cause of HCC in China, however, the HCC in Japan be mostly related to hepatitis C virus infection.