Localization of hepatitis B virus in a primary testicular cancer.

ABSTRACT

An embryonal carcinoma of the testicle developed in a 29-year-old white man 3 months after recovery from hepatitis B surface antigen-positive hepatitis. Microscopic sections prepared with formalin-fixed tumor tissue were stained with anti-hepatitis B surface antibody and examined by fluorescent microscopy. Appropriate control procedures, including absorption techniques, were also performed. The carcinoma cells contained hepatitis B surface antigen; controls, including sections from normal testicles and three other testicular tumors, were negative. The result indicates that the hepatitis B virus in this case was localized in the tumor cells. The patient was alive and well 4 years after undergoing orchiectomy and chemotherapy.