Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common complication of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. The pathogenetic mechanisms potentially responsible for HCC during chronic HBV infection are not well defined. This study demonstrates that chronic immune-mediated liver cell injury triggers the development of HCC in the absence of viral transactivation, insertional mutagenesis, and genotoxic chemicals. These results strongly suggest that the immune response to HBV is both necessary and sufficient to cause liver cancer during chronic HBV infection, and that all other procarcinogenic events associated with HCC are probably dependent on this process.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 341-350 |
Number of pages | 10 |
Journal | Journal of Experimental Medicine |
Volume | 188 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jul 20 1998 |
Keywords
- Chronic hepatitis
- Cytotoxic T lymphocytes
- Hepatitis B virus
- Hepatocellular carcinoma
- Transgenic mice
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology