Multiple hepatocellular carcinomas at the early stage have different clonality.

Abstract

The clonality of hepatocellular carcinoma is still controversial. To evaluate the clonality of this cancer, mostly small multiple hepatocellular carcinomas of 18 patients were analyzed by DNA fingerprinting. DNA from the liver tissues was digested with HinfI. After gel electrophoresis, in gel-hybridization with a synthetic oligonucleotide probe GTGGTGGTGGTGGTG was performed. The band patterns were compared among the tumors and the nontumor part. In patients positive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), the integration pattern of hepatitis B viral DNA in liver tissues was also analyzed. Seven of the 9 HBsAg-positive patients had tumors with different clonalities by both methods. In the remaining 9 HBsAg-negative patients, 4 had different band patterns in their tumors by DNA fingerprinting. Multiple hepatocellular carcinomas frequently have different clonalities; this finding reiterates the importance of eliminating the underlying cause and the contributing factors of hepatocarcinogenesis.