Does Hepatitis B Cause Liver Cancer?

Are people who are only carriers of thehepatitis Bvirus withoutliver diseaseorhepatitisat risk forliver cancer?

The answer is probably yes.

Usually, individuals at risk for developinglivercancerare those withcirrhosis(advancedliver disease与永久性肝脏瘢痕)。换句话说,cirrhosis is aprecancerouscondition. In fact, patients with cirrhosis regardless of the underlying cause are at increased risk of developing livercancer, for example, patients with cirrhosis from chronichepatitis C, chronichepatitis B,hemochromatosis, alcohol, andfatty liver. Some of these groups of patients should have periodicultrasoundexaminations of the liver as well as blood tests for alpha fetoprotein (a blood test that is produced by livercancers) to detect the development of livercancerearly.

There is one group of patients without cirrhosis that is at risk of developing liver cancer; that group of patients has chronic infection with thehepatitisB virus. A typical patient would be somebody born with hepatitis B infection contracted from his/her mother at birth (common in Asia). The baby's immature immune system does not recognize the hepatitis B virus as "foreign" and thus tolerates the virus. (The body's immune system does not wage war against the virus.) The hepatitis B virus is able to multiply and flourish in the body without causing the hepatitis (liver inflammation caused by the immune system) that leads to cirrhosis. However, the virus can damage the DNA in the liver cells and cause liver cancer. These patients typically have high levels of hepatitis B virus in their blood but normalliver enzymesand normal liver biopsies. Such patients should have ultrasound examinations of the liver and alpha fetoprotein blood tests every six months to look for developing liver cancers.