Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0019204 (hepatocellular carcinoma)
 71,386 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A clinical, biochemical, and pathological study was performed in 38 chronic HBsAg carriers. The study group is a part of 393 carriers found among 117 705 voluntary blood donors at the National Blood Bank, Hospital del Salvador, Santiago, Chile. None of the 38 carriers had a past history of illicit drug abuse, hepatitis, or work involving a high risk of hepatitis B virus infection. Ten individuals had a normal liver biopsy, 17 reactive non-specific hepatitis, one fatty changes, four chr onic persistent hepatitis, one aggressive hepatitis, two post-necrotic cirrhosis, and three alcoholic cirrhosis. There was not a close correlation between liver function test and liver histology. The most significant laboratory finding was the postivity of alpha fetoprotein in two cases. During the follow-up the two alpha fetoprotein patients presented a hepatocarcinoma 12 and 14 months after admission to the study.
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PMID:Clinical and pathological study of asymptomatic HBsAg carriers in Chile. 68 May 91

Alcoholism is the most common form of drug abuse and alcoholic liver disease is a major health problem which in terms of increasing incidence is only rivaled by viral hepatitis. Cirrhosis of the liver, most of which is probably alcoholic, is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality between the ages of 25 to 65 in Western countries. Alcoholic liver disease includes adaptive and toxic ultrastructural alterations, alcoholic fatty liver, alcoholic hepatitis and alcoholic cirrhosis, later accompanied by hepatoma.
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PMID:[Biochemical and clinical aspects of alcoholic liver damage]. 100 21

The actual ELISA test for anti-HCV defects an antibody to a non-structural part of the virus. It is present in 0.3 to 1.5% of the blood donors and in about 60% of patients with chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis. Seroconversion occurs 4 to 6 months after the beginning of the disease. The risk of a sporadic transmission is very low but unknown. An ALT elevation occurred only in 7% of the sexual partners of positive chronic liver patients but nobody seroconverted. Vertical, mother to infant, transmission is rare. In all risk groups for HCV infection such as drug abuse, multiple transfusion, haemodialysis, the presence of the antibody is increased between 15 to 80%. There is also evidence that HCV may be an oncogenic factor for hepatocellular carcinoma. It is present in 30 to 60% of the cases.
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PMID:Prevalence and significance of anti-HCV antibodies. 166 70

A case of a power weight lifter who is ingesting large doses of anabolic steroids plus other drugs to counteract their short-term side effects is presented. This type of polydrug abuse phenomenon which is unique to the competitive athlete is widespread despite the lack of convincing evidence that anabolic steroids increase muscular strength. The vast extent of this drug abuse problem is poorly appreciated by the general medical community. The potential complications of the long-term usage of these drugs such as liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma, and peliosis hepatitis make these drugs extremely dangerous.
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PMID:The athletic polydrug abuse phenomenon. A case report. 661 1

Formerly the diagnosis of acute and chronic non-A, non-B hepatitis was made by the exclusion of other causes. However, in 1989 cloning of an antigenic component of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) was reported. This led to first- and second-generation tests for antibody to HCV (anti-HCV) in serum. HCV has been associated with acute and chronic posttransfusion and sporadic non-A, non-B hepatitis, and with hepatocellular carcinoma. Viral HCV RNA can be estimated with the polymerase chain reaction test, but this technically difficult test is not generally available. The entire viral genome has been sequenced. The envelope region shows considerable variation, and mutant HCV infections are being described already. There are geographic variations in the prevalence of anti-HCV, but usually about 0.5% to 1% of healthy blood donors test positive. Parenteral exposure to blood, especially by transfusion or drug abuse, remains a certain means of acquiring HCV infection. The method by which millions without parenteral risk factors acquire HCV remains uncertain. Vertical transmission and sexual and family spread occur only rarely. Body secretions are free of the virus. The mode of transmission may become clarified when tests for viral HCV as opposed to anti-HCV become generally available. Acute HCV infection usually is mild, and the chronic disease is also indolent. Carriers of hepatitis B virus or alcoholics who also test positive for HCV have more serious disease. Chronic HCV infection must be distinguished from autoimmune chronic active hepatitis. The most important difference is the response to corticosteroid therapy, which is good in autoimmune hepatitis and poor in HCV-related disease. Hepatocellular carcinoma can complicate HCV-related cirrhosis, usually about 20 years after infection with HCV. Recombinant interferon-alpha is used to treat chronic HCV disease, but selection of patients, dose, and duration of therapy are uncertain. In general, 50% of patients respond to the treatment, but 50% of these will have a relapse, with an overall response rate of 25%. Liver transplantation in patients with end-stage HCV disease usually is followed by infection of the graft.
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PMID:Chronic hepatitis C. 751 76

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) has been associated with acute and chronic posttransfusion and with sporadic non-A non-B (NANB) hepatitis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Cloning of the sequence encoding an antigenic component of HCV in 1989 led to the development of tests to detect antibody to HCV in serum. Viral HCV RNA can be detected and estimated with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and branched-chain DNA (bDNA) signal amplification tests. The entire viral genome has been sequenced. The HCV envelope region varies considerably, and infections with mutant HCV have been described. Approximately 0.5-1.5% of healthy blood donors test positive, and HCV infection can be acquired by blood transfusion or i.v. drug abuse. Vertical and sexual transmission of the virus is rare, and the transmission mode remains obscure in a large group of patients. Acute hepatitis C is mild and often asymptomatic. Chronic hepatitis C has an indolent course but may progress to cirrhosis and HCC. Recombinant alpha interferon (IF) is used to treat chronic HCV disease, but no consensus has been reached on patient selection, dose, and duration of treatment. Approximately 50% of treated patients respond, but 50-80% of responders relapse over time. Liver transplantation in patients with end-stage, HCV-related liver disease is often followed by allograft infection. Short-term survival with reinfection is good, but the long-term consequences remain to be defined.
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PMID:Hepatitis C: an overview. 759 67

Hepatitis C virus (HCV), identified in 1989, is the main agent of Non-A, Non-B hepatitis. The number of HCV carriers in France is estimated between 500,000 and 2 millions. The main risk factors for HCV infection are blood products transfusion and i.v. drug abuse. Cirrhosis occurs in 30% of cases with a delay ranging from 10 to 30 years, and hepatocellular carcinoma in 2.5% of cases. Interferon is, for instance, the only effective therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C; however, prolonged response (in terms of transaminase normalization) after stopping treatment occurs only in 20% of patients.
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PMID:[Hepatitis C]. 793 62

Over a recent three year period, approximately 600 individuals responded to newspaper advertisements for research studies requiring healthy, cocaine using subjects. These subjects were screened using a standard phone interview in order to eliminate individuals with known medical or psychiatric illnesses that would exclude them from ongoing neuroimaging studies of drug abuse. Individuals were specifically asked about their hepatitis and HIV status. Of these, 170 subjects passed the phone screen, having no known medical or psychiatric illness outside of cocaine abuse/dependence and were willing to be further evaluated for the studies. These subjects were brought to the Medical College of Wisconsin's General Clinical Research Center and tested for, among other measures, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and HIV. Of these, 144 completed the examination and all testing. In this cohort of assumed healthy subjects, 47 (33%) tested positive for antibodies to the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Only 7 (5%) tested positive for the hepatitis B surface antigen and 2 (1.4%) to HIV. The demographics of this cohort are 56% African-American, 81% male, 75% never-married, 55% unemployed with a mean age of 36 years. The percentage of subjects reporting any lifetime intravenous drug use among the HCV(+) and the HCV(-) cohorts was 77% vs. 29% respectively. Some routes of HCV transmission are still unclear and may reflect lifestyle or other factors related to cocaine use outside of parenteral drug use. Since almost all HCV infections become chronic, and many progress to chronic active hepatitis, cirrhosis, and ultimately hepatocellular carcinoma, these observations suggest a significant epidemic in an unsuspecting population with little regular access to health care. These individuals also form a large pool for the continued transmission of HCV to the general population. Additional public health interventions are suggested.
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PMID:Hepatitis C virus infection in cocaine users--a silent epidemic. 1093 40

Chronic hepatitis B is usually a benign disease in Caucasian children; however, the long-term prognosis remains unsettled. This report describes the results of a 29-year longitudinal study including 99 white children with chronic hepatitis B, mainly acquired horizontally: 91 were hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive (4 had cirrhosis), and 8 were HBeAg negative at presentation. Of the 91 HBeAg-positive children, 89 underwent HBeAg seroconversion after a mean period of 5.2 +/- 4.0 years and were included in the study. Of the 85 children without cirrhosis, one had HBeAg-negative hepatitis and the other 84 became inactive carriers. During a mean follow-up of 14.5 +/- 6.1 years after HBeAg seroclearance, 4 carriers experienced reactivation, and 3 of them had HBeAg-negative hepatitis at the last follow-up. Of the 8 initially HBeAg-negative children, 2 had HBeAg-negative hepatitis, and 6 were inactive carriers. Of the 4 children with cirrhosis, 2 had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and remained alive and 2 lost the histological features of cirrhosis in adulthood. Two patients with HBeAg-negative hepatitis and 1 with cirrhosis had experienced drug abuse. At the end of follow-up, 15 of the 89 initially HBeAg-positive patients and 2 of 8 initially HBeAg-negative children had cleared hepatitis B surface antigen. In conclusion, the overall prognosis for chronic hepatitis B in horizontally infected Caucasian children is favorable; however, some patients progress to HCC and HBeAg-negative hepatitis. Long-term monitoring is important, as is counseling on cofactors of liver damage, such as alcohol and drug abuse.
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PMID:Chronic hepatitis B in children after e antigen seroclearance: final report of a 29-year longitudinal study. 1649 23

Hepatitis A is still the most frequently reported vaccine preventable disease. A reduction in the incidence will only be achieved by routine childhood vaccination rather than by targeted vaccination of high-risk groups. A larger vaccine program is warranted. Hepatitis B remains a large public health problem. Vaccination targeted to high-risk adults failed to decrease the incidence of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Sexual as well as nosocomial transmission remain serious problems. Vaccine escape variants have also been identified in newborns from infected mothers who had been vaccinated at birth. Clearance of HBV infection results from complex immune mechanisms including TH1 cytokines significantly associated with HLA class II alleles. Escape HBV mutants, especially precore mutants, influence the outcome. The sequences of the promoter and other critical regions were associated with severe activity. Lamivudine is a major advance in therapy of chronic hepatitis B which was recently approved in many countries. Although drug resistant mutants may be selected during therapy, additional nucleoside analogues including adefovir are promising. Optimal combination strategies of different active compounds need to be researched. Three per cent of the world population has been infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Epidemiology has shifted from transfusion to non-transfusion settings. Intravenous drug abuse is currently the main risk but nosocomial infection is also of concern. Three independent factors seem associated with fibrosis progression: age, daily alcohol consumption of 50 g or more and male gender. Median duration of progression to cirrhosis is about 30 years. At the cirrhotic stage, about 3-5% of patients per year develop hepatocellular carcinoma. There is little evidence that direct cytopathicity plays a significant role in liver cell injury. HCV also infects extrahepatic cells which seems critical in the pathogenesis of the many extrahepatic manifestations. The recent identification of CD81 protein as one of the HCV receptor candidates may help us to understand how chronic HCV infection may trigger a wide spectrum of clinical manifestations, autoimmune or even lymphoproliferative, through potent continuous B cell activation in the context of various host and/or environmental cofactors. Direct measurement of HCV RNA has clarified HCV replication kinetics and variability. Among patients with chronic hepatitis C, 48 weeks of treatment with interferon/ribavirin therapy produced a response rate of 28% among those with genotype 1 and 66% with other genotypes. Similar differences were found for combination therapy among patients who had relapsed following previous interferon (IFN) therapy. Viral load prior to treatment has been clearly shown to be predictive of response to interferon treatment, with increased viral load associated with decrease rates of response. In patients non-responsive to interferon, a second course of interferon alone has no beneficial effect whereas combination therapy may induce response in 25%. In conclusion, combination therapy should be given in all situations. Viral eradication should not be the only objective of the treatment since histological improvement may be obtained despite persisting viral replication with prolonged maintenance of antiviral therapy.
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PMID:Viral hepatitis. 1703 15


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