Last Updated: 2002-07-17 17:00:48 -0400 (Reuters Health)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Testing for the presence of two proteins associated with hepatitis B may indicate whether or not patients with the liver-infecting virus will go on to develop cancer, new study findings suggest.

While many people recover within a few months of a hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, some can develop chronic infection, which can lead to cirrhosis (scarring), liver cancer, liver failure and death. Hepatitis B vaccine is available for all age groups to prevent HBV infection.

Little is known about how frequently people are able to clear infection on their own and how frequently those with chronic HBV infection go on to develop liver cancer or liver failure.

In the current study, lead author Dr. Hwai-I Yang of the National Taiwan University in Taipei and colleagues evaluated the liver cancer status of 11,893 men infected with HBV over a 10-year period.

All of the men were free of liver cancer at the start of the study in 1991, the authors note in their report published in the July 18th issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

At the study's end in 2000, a total of 111 cases of liver cancer were reported. Yang's group found that men who tested positive for a protein produced by the virus, called hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), were nearly 10 times more likely to develop liver cancer. In addition, men who tested positive for HBsAg and another protein, called hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg), were 60 times more likely to develop liver cancer compared with men who did not have either protein in their blood.

The authors estimate that for every 100,000 men infected with hepatitis B, 39 men negative for HBeAG and HBsAg would develop liver cancer in a given year, compared with 324 per 100,000 men with HBsAg only and 1,169 per 100,000 men with both proteins.

"HBeAg, in addition to HBsAg, may be a useful marker of the risk of (liver cancer)," the researchers report.

"Persons considered to be at high risk because of positivity for HBeAg would be candidates for antiviral-drug treatment and close monitoring for the development of liver diseases associated with chronic HBV infection," Yang and colleagues conclude.

SOURCE: The New England Journal of Medicine 2002;347:168-174.

Copyright © 2001 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.