HLA Antigen in Chinese Patients With Hepatocellular Carcinonas

Abstract

One hundred and fourteen Chinese patients with hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) were studied for a-fetoprotein (AFP), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). anti-HBsAg, and HLA markers. Younger patients with HCC (<60 yr old) were more significantly associated with elevated serum AFP (P<0.0001) and serum HBsAg (P<0.0001) than were older (≥60 yr old) patients. A strong correlation existed between serum AFP and HBsAg among the patients (P<0.0001). Of 27 AFP-negative patients, 15 (55.6%) had HLA-B15 compared to 53 of 238 (22.3%) healthy controls (corrected P<0.003, relative risk=4.4). The frequency of HLA-B15 was even higher in the AFP-negative plus HBsAg-negative subgroup (61%). AFP-negative patients also had a significant lack of blood group A.