Iga fc receptor promoter polymorphism associated with hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis C virus infection

The factors influencing the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic hepatitis C are poorly understood. Since two promoter polymorphisms of the FcαR gene at -311T/C and -142T/C have recently been found to be associated with chronic hepatitis C, we further examined the relationship between these polymorphisms and the development of HCC in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Our results showed that in advanced stages of the disease as assessed on the basis of a decreased platelet count (< 150,000/μl), individuals inheriting either the -142C/C homozygous variant genotype or -142T/C heterozygous genotype were more frequent among patients with HCC (80.0%) as compared to patients without HCC (56.0%), with an odds ratio (OR) of 3.2 to -142T/T (95% CI = 1.1-8.8). The frequency of the -142C allele in the patients with HCC was also significantly higher than in the patients without HCC (0.48 vs. 0.33, P <.04). Moreover, the proportion of individuals with either -311/-142 haplotype C-C or T-C was significantly higher in the patients with HCC (0.50) than in the patients without HCC (0.33), with an OR of 2.1 to T-T (95% CI = 1.1-4.0). The present data not only provide a useful marker for predicting a high-risk group of HCC among patients with chronic hepatitis C, but may also help to clarify the molecular mechanism of hepatocarcinogenesis.