ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the recent advances in related research and evaluates the implications for hepatocarcinogenesis. The majority of the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCCs) related to Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection contain HBV DNA integrated into the chromosomal DNA, and integration seems to occur during the early stage of virus multiplication. One of the most important effects associated with the integration of HBV DNA may be mutagenesis. The chapter also overviews the genetic changes in the hepatocytes associated with hepatocarcinogenesis and of the cis- and transacting genetic controlling elements in the HBV genome. Integrated HBV genomes are found in about 80% or more of the HCCs that develop as a consequence of HBV-mediated chronic active hepatitis. The structure of the integrating viral DNA is inverted and joined to identical cell DNA sequences, which signifies that they must have been made first by integration, then by amplification followed by recombination within the virus DNA sequences in a head-to-head fashion.
