Conservation of hepatitis C virus 5′ untranslated sequences in hepatocellular carcinoma and the surrounding liver

Abstract

Persistent infection by hepatitis C virus is a major risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, but the mechanism of hepatocarcinogenesis is unknown. To study the association of hepatitis C virus with hepatocellular carcinoma, we sequenced part of the 5' untranslated region of hepatitis C virus from the tumor tissue and the surrounding nontumorous liver of three patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. No sequence differences between tumor-derived and liver-derived hepatitis C virus isolates were detected. The conservation of the 5' untranslated region of hepatitis C virus--not only in infected hepatocytes, but also in neoplastic cells--suggests that the regulatory elements at the 5' terminus of the viral genome play an important role in the pathobiology of hepatitis C virus.