Elsevier

Journal of Hepatology

Volume 52, Issue 4, April 2010, Pages 594-604
Journal of Hepatology

Review
Mechanisms of HBV-related hepatocarcinogenesis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2009.10.033Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

The hepatitis B virus (HBV) is a small enveloped DNA virus, which primarily infects hepatocytes and causes acute and persistent liver disease. Epidemiological studies have provided overwhelming evidence for a causal role of chronic HBV infection in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, but the molecular mechanisms underlying virally-induced tumourigenesis remain largely debated. In the absence of a dominant oncogene encoded by the HBV genome, indirect roles have been proposed, including insertional activation of cellular cancer-related genes by HBV DNA integration, induction of genetic instability by viral integration or by the regulatory protein HBx, and long-term effects of viral proteins in enhancing immune-mediated liver disease. Recent genetic studies indicate that HBV-related tumours display a distinctive profile with a high rate of chromosomal alterations and low frequency of β-catenin mutations. This review will discuss the evidence implicating chronic HBV infection as a causal risk factor of primary liver cancer. It will also discuss the molecular mechanisms that are critical for the tumourigenic process due to long lasting infection with HBV.

Keywords

Virus
Cancer
Hepatitis
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Oncogene
Tumour suppressor

Cited by (0)