Previous hepatitis B viral infection-an underestimated cause of pancreatic cancer.

BACKGROUND: The etiology of pancreatic cancer remains unclear. This limits the possibility of prevention and effective treatment. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is responsible for the development of different types of cancer, but its role in pancreatic cancer is still being discussed. AIM: To assess the prevalence of previous HBV infection and to identify viral biomarkers in patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) to support the role of the virus in etiology of this cancer. METHODS: The data of 130 hepatitis B surface antigen-negative subjects were available for the final analysis, including 60 patients with PDAC confirmed by cytology or histology and 70 sex- and age-matched controls. All the participants were tested for HBV biomarkers in blood [antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc), antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti-HBs) and HBV DNA], and for those with PDAC, biomarkers in resected pancreatic tissues were tested (HBV DNA, HBV pregenomic RNA and covalently closed circular DNA). We performed immunohistochemistry staining of pancreatic tissues for hepatitis B virus X antigen and Ki-67 protein. Non-parametric statistics were used for the analysis. RESULTS: Anti-HBc was detected in 18/60 (30%) patients with PDAC and in 9/70 (13%) participants in the control group (P = 0.029). Accordingly, the odds of PDAC in anti-HBc-positive subjects were higher compared to those with no previous HBV infection (odds ratio: 2.905, 95% confidence interval: 1.191-7.084, standard error 0.455). HBV DNA was detected in 8 cases of PDAC and in 6 of them in the pancreatic tumor tissue samples only (all patients were anti-HBc positive). Blood HBV DNA was negative in all subjects of the control group with positive results of the serum anti-HBc test. Among 9 patients with PDAC, 5 revealed signs of replicative competence of the virus (covalently closed circular DNA with or without pregenomic RNA) in the pancreatic tumor tissue samples. Hepatitis B virus X antigen expression and active cell proliferation was revealed by immunohistochemistry in 4 patients with PDAC in the pancreatic tumor tissue samples. CONCLUSION: We found significantly higher risks of PDAC in anti-HBc-positive patients. Detection of viral replication and hepatitis B virus X protein expression in the tumor tissue prove involvement of HBV infection in pancreatic cancer development.

May Previous Hepatitis B Virus Infection Be Involved in Etiology and Pathogenesis of Autoimmune Liver Diseases?

INTRODUCTION: Viral infections, especially with hepatotropic viruses, may trigger autoimmune liver diseases (AILDs) and deteriorate their course. However, association of previous hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection (presence of anti-HBc with or without anti-HBs or HBV DNA in serum) with AILDs is poorly studied so far. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of previous hepatitis B virus infection markers and its clinical significance in patients with autoimmune liver diseases. METHODS: The study was based on the data obtained from 234 consecutive HBsAg-negative patients with AILDs [81 with autoimmune hepatitis (AIH), 122 with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and 31 with primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC)] and 131 subjects of the control group without liver diseases. Blood samples of the enrolled patients were tested for anti-HBc and HBV DNA. Samples of liver tissue were examined by standard morphologic protocol and, in anti-HBc positive subjects, for HBV DNA. We assessed estimated risks of AILDs according to anti-HBc positivity and association of anti-HBc positivity with stage of liver fibrosis. RESULTS: Anti-HBc was detected in 14.5% participants in the control group vs 26.1% (p = 0.016) in patients with AILDs (including 27.1% subjects with PBC (p = 0.021 vs control group), in 29% of PSC and 23.5% in AIH. HBV DNA was detected in three patients with PBC and in one with AIH. Positive anti-HBc test result was associated with higher risk of AILDs-odds ratio (OR) = 2.078 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.179-3.665], especially in PBC: OR (95% CI) 2.186 (1.165-4.101). Odds of advanced stage of liver fibrosis (F3-F4 by METAVIR) in anti-HBc-positive subjects with PBC were also higher compared to those who had no previous HBV infection: OR (95% CI) 2.614 (1.153-5.926). CONCLUSIONS: Significant proportions of patients with AILDs are anti-HBc positive, and some of them have OBI. Among patients with AILDs, anti-HBc-positivity is most widespread in the PBC group and in subjects with advanced stage of liver fibrosis. Our data may support the idea of an important role of previous HBV infection in the etiology and pathogenesis of AILDs (namely PBC).