Hepatitis B virus infection and primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

Vol. 5, No. 3

CLINICAL MICROBIOLOGY REVIEWS, July 1992, p. 275-301

0893-8512/92/030275-27$02.00/0

Copyright © 1992, American Society for Microbiology

Hepatitis B Virus Infection and Primary Hepatocellular Carcinoma MARK FEITELSON Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Room 219 Alumni Hall, Jefferson Medical School, Thomas Jefferson University, 1020 Locust Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19107

275 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................. Genome and Gene Products of HBV ................................................................................. 275 HBV Replication and Natural History of Infection .................................................................... 276 277 HBV-Like Viruses and PHC ................................................................................. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL LINK BETWEEN HBV INFECTION AND PHC .......................................... 277 Significance of In Utero or Perinatal Transmission of HBV to PHC .............................................. 278 Factors Contributing to the High Relative Risk of PHC among HBV-Infected Patients ...................... 278 Chemicals and other infectious agents .................................................................................. 278 279 Age, gender, and sex hormones ................................................................................. 280 Chronic liver disease .................................................................................. PUTATIVE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MODELS FOR PHC ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC 280 HBV INFECTION ................................................................................. Integration Sites of HBV DNA in PHC Cells ............................................................................ 280 281 cis-Acting Mechanisms of PHC ................................................................................. 281 Fusion proteins ................................................................................. 281 Promotion-insertion ................................................................................. 282 Putative role of other oncogenes ................................................................................. Genetic Instability and Recessive Carcinogenesis ....................................................................... 283 Chromosomal rearrangements and loss of antioncogenes ......................................................... 283 p53, AFBj, and hepatocarcinogenesis ................................................................................. 285 HBV Gene Expression: Putative Roles in PHC ......................................................................... 286 Genetic contribution of hepadnaviruses to cancer ................................................................... 286 Immunological targeting of virus antigens: relevance to pathogenesis of PHC ............................... 286 Evidence for trans-activating mechanisms in PHC: putative roles for pre-S and HBxAg gene products ................................................................................. 287 CONCLUSIONS: MODEL FOR HBV-INDUCED CARCINOGENESIS ............................................ 289 290 REFERENCES .................................................................................

products. The first ORF encodes a family of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg)-related polypeptides that make up the envelope of the virus. HBsAg polypeptides are also present in numerous small, spherical, and variably long filamentous particles in serum (92). The major HBsAg polypeptide is encoded by the S gene (114, 272). Several minor envelope polypeptides are made from the combination of the pre-S and S gene regions (100, 137, 401) and may encode the virus receptors for infection (Fig. 1) (2, 252). The second HBV ORF encodes the major hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) polypeptide, which is the major component of the virus nucleocapsid (4, 272). When a small precore region located contiguous to and just upstream from the core ORF

INTRODUCTION Chronic infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) is associated with an increased risk for the development of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (PHC). Intensive efforts to describe how HBV causes PHC on the cellular and molecular levels have drawn attention to frequent characteristics that may be central to the pathogenesis of this tumor type. However, to discuss these characteristics in detail, it is important to present the salient features of the virus genome, its replication cycle, and the characteristics of the gene products which may contribute to the pathogenesis of PHC. Genome and Gene Products of HBV The genome of HBV has been obtained from infectious serum samples and characterized by both cloning and sequencing (111, 114, 267, 272, 383). In virus particles, the genome exists as a circular, partially double-stranded molecule with a nick at a unique site in the long strand of DNA (Fig. 1). The 5' end of the short strand of DNA is at a fixed position, but its 3' end is at different nucleotide positions in different virus particles. The genome can be made fully double stranded in vitro by further synthesis on the short strand by an endogenous DNA polymerase activity (291). The fully double-stranded genome is approximately 3.2 kb long and has four open reading frames (ORFs) on the long strand, which are ultimately translated into the virus gene

is included in the protein product, such a polypeptide becomes proteolytically cleaved at the cell membrane and is then secreted into serum as the hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) (32, 223, 269, 382). The HBeAg in serum is associated with continued virus replication and high infectivity (207, 208). The third HBV ORF encodes a polypeptide known as the hepatitis B x antigen (HBxAg) (Fig. 1). A polypeptide of the size expected from the translation of the X ORF has been found in the serum of some HBV-infected patients with high levels of virus replication (96, 98). HBxAg has also been found associated with virus core particles, which is the site where virus replication actually occurs, again suggesting that this antigen is important to HBV replication (93). The trans-activating function of HBxAg (7,

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FEITELSON

276

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FIG. 1. Schematic representation of the HBV genome as it in virus particles. The numbers, sizes, and relative positions of the ORFs are indicated. The positions and sizes of the major transcripts made during infection are also shown. The origin of minus (or long)-strand synthesis is at direct repeat 1 (DR1), while the origin of plus (or short)-strand synthesis is at direct repeat 2 (DR2). The dashed region of the short strand could be filled in and the genome made fully double stranded by the endogenous DNA polymerase activity associated with virus particles. Abbreviation: aa, amino acid. Reprinted with permission from Nature (London) (362). appears

56, 314, 331, 376, 378) may be important in stimulating virus or host cell gene expression during infection. HBcAg particles also include the products of the fourth HBV ORF, the HBV polymerase. The HBV-encoded polymerase is responsible for the endogenous DNA polymerase activity observed in virus particles from serum as well as for other activities which are necessary for viral replication (13, 14, 219, 336). HBV Replication and Natural History of Infection

Upon infection of susceptible hepatocytes, HBV DNA becomes fully double stranded, and covalently closed circular (supercoiled) viral DNA then appears in the nuclei (233, 234, 374). It is believed that this supercoiled species encodes a greater-than-genome-length RNA (Fig. 2) that is then transported to the cytoplasm, where it becomes encapsidated in HBcAg particles (336). The long, or minus, strand of DNA is then synthesized from this template by reverse transcription, and during this process the RNA is degraded. The short, or plus, strand is then partially synthesized, and the HBcAg particles acquire envelopes and are secreted into the circulation as mature virions (Fig. 2). At 6 weeks to 6 months after a patient is exposed to HBV, HBsAg becomes detectable in the serum. The appearance of HBsAg is often accompanied by the appearance in serum of HBxAg and/or HBeAg, which are closely associated with viral replication (Fig. 3). Most people lose all of these antigens and seroconvert to corresponding viral antibodies within a few months, which usually indicates recovery from

transitional core with full length minus strand

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FIG. 2. Replication scheme of HBV and related viruses. Viral replication occurs in the cytoplasm of infected hepatocytes within immature core or nucleocapsid particles by reverse transcription of an encapsidated RNA pregenome. Modified and reprinted with permission from Cell (336).

acute infection. Patients with persistent HBsAg in blood for than 6 months usually become chronic carriers. Among

more

carriers with detectable HBeAg, many lose HBeAg and spontaneously seroconvert to anti-HBe sometime during the course of chronic infection. This seroconversion is usually accompanied by an exacerbation of hepatitis in the liver prior to seroconversion and is followed by a decrease or disappearance of virus from the serum when anti-HBe appears. The HBsAg(+) chronic carrier state also spontaneously terminates after many years in some long-term infections, and the outcome may include seroconversion to anti-HBs. During the intervening period, however, patients may suffer multiple episodes of chronic hepatitis (95). Such patients are at a high risk for the development of cirrhosis and PHC. Hence, PHC develops most often among HBsAg carriers with progressive chronic liver disease.

HBV INFECTION AND PRIMARY HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA

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AFP

HBsAg

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277

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S CELLS: INFECTION, REPLICATION DEATH, CONTINUED INFECTION, REGENERATION AND SCARRING OF LIVER R CELLS: PRESERVATION, DIVISION, INTEGRATION

INTEGRATION - SELECTION OF FAVORED CLONE - RAPID MULTIPUCATION OF R CELLS (SECOND EVENT) -

0s0...*00 4. FINAL EVENTS -

TUMOR GROWTH.. METASTASIS

FIG. 3. (A) Serological profile that often characterizes the HBV chronic carrier. Such carriers often have detectable HBsAg in serum for after the initial infection. Many patients with lengthy periods of virus replication also have detectable levels of HBeAg and/or HBxAg in blood. During chronic infection, many individuals lose HBxAg and seroconvert to anti-HBx while clearing virus from serum. This seroconversion is often followed by loss of HBeAg and the development of anti-HBe. Some carriers experience one or more episodes of chronic hepatitis, which can develop into cirrhosis and dysplasia. These patients are at high risk for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, which is often accompanied by rises in serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP). (B) Putative cellular model for PHC associated with chronic HBV infection. In this model (24, 25), a susceptible liver is rich in hepatocytes that support HBV replication (S cells). During chronic infection accompanied by bouts of hepatitis, S cells are recognized and lysed by immunological mechanisms, and the liver becomes increasingly rich in R cells, which do not support virus replication. Such R cells have integrated HBV DNA and in time may be selected for expansion. Eventually, some of these cells evolve into preneoplastic and neoplastic nodules. Modified and reprinted with permission from Cancer Detection and Prevention (25a).

years or decades

HBV-Like Viruses and PHC HBV is the prototype of a growing family of agents called hepadnaviruses (293). The best-characterized of these agents include HBV-like viruses that naturally infect woodchucks (woodchuck hepatitis virus [WHV]) (338), ground squirrels (ground squirrel hepatitis virus [GSHV]) (214), and some strains of ducks (duck hepatitis B virus [DHBV]) (220). Chronic infection of these hosts with their respective viruses results in the appearance of chronic hepatitis and PHC (215, 266, 276, 329, 330). This is especially true in WHV-infected woodchucks, of which nearly 100% develop PHC within 3 years (115, 275). These naturally occurring models further demonstrate a close relationship between hepadnavirus infection and liver cancer and have been very useful in teaching us more about the mechanisms responsible for PHC.

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL LINK BETWEEN HBV INFECTION AND PHC There is much evidence suggesting a close association between HBV infection and the development of PHC. The importance of this relationship to public health is highlighted by the fact that PHC is among the most common cancers in the world (250,000 to 1 million new cases annually) (24, 94), that there are more than 300 million HBV carriers worldwide, and that chronic infection with HBV is closely associated with the development of liver cancer (25, 344, 387). The last point is supported by epidemiological data that show a close correlation between markers of HBV infection and PHC (16, 254, 256, 344, 409). In regions of the world where HBV infection is endemic (characterized by a high prevalence of carriers), there is a high incidence of liver cancer, whereas in most parts of the world with a low

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prevalence of HBV carriers, there is a low incidence of liver cancer (203). About 80% of patients with PHC have evidence of HBV infection, as demonstrated by the presence of HBsAg and/or anti-HBc in blood, whether or not they reside in geographical regions where HBV is endemic, again suggesting a close correlation between markers of virus infection and PHC (175, 189, 348). Further, the fact that markers of HBV infection appear in the blood of infected patients years before the appearance of PHC argues for a cause-andeffect relationship (355). Among HBV carriers, liver cancer often appears after episodes of chronic active hepatitis (CAH) and cirrhosis (328). The close association of chronic WHV (115, 275) and GSHV (215) infections and PHC, as mentioned above, also underscores this linkage.

Significance of In Utero or Perinatal Transmission of HBV to PHC In utero and perinatal transmission of HBV has provided additional evidence for a close relationship between HBV infection and PHC. In regions of the world where HBV is endemic, there are family clusters of HBV carriers and PHC patients (366). This clustering may reflect transmission of HBV from carrier mothers to children in the perinatal period or during the first few months of life (190, 257, 264, 335, 365). This type of transmission occurs most often from HBeAg(+) mothers (who are actively replicating virus) and accounts for almost half of the childhood carriers in populations with a high prevalence of HBV carriers (16). Further observations have shown that family members with PHC are more likely than age-matched controls to have mothers who are HBV carriers (16, 190). Hence, the incidence of the chronic carrier state after HBV infection is inversely related to the age at infection (16), with perinatal exposure often resulting in the development of the chronic carrier state and exposure later in childhood (or adulthood) often resulting in acute infection which resolves, instead of the chronic carrier state. The underlying cause for such a high carrier rate among infants infected with HBV may be an immature immune system. A number of recent results from a variety of systems provide support for this idea. First, T cells from HBeAg-expressing transgenic mice were unresponsive (or tolerant) to both HBeAg and HBcAg (230), suggesting that transplacental transmission of the soluble HBeAg from the blood of the carrier mother to the fetus could make the latter tolerant and allow ready establishment of the chronic carrier state. Second, T-cell-deficient nude mice injected intrahepatically with cloned HBV DNA developed many characteristics in common with human carriers, while normal littermates with mature T-cell functions did not become carriers (99), suggesting that mature T-cell functions are required to prevent establishment of the chronic carrier state. Third, treatment of adult woodchucks with cyclosporin A (which suppresses T-cell function) in the early phases of experimental WHV infection alters the outcome of such infections. Usually, experimental infection of adult woodchucks with WHV results in transient viremia or the appearance of viral antibodies in the absence of detectable virus, but when cyclosporin A is administered during the early phases of experimental infection, most animals develop the chronic carrier state (59). Hence, the development of the chronic carrier state and, later, PHC is heavily influenced by the mode and timing of infection.

Factors Contributing to the High Relative Risk of PHC among HBV-Infected Patients Chemicals and other infectious agents. The importance of the chronic carrier state to the development of PHC is underscored by work showing that the relative risk that HBV carriers will develop PHC is more than 200 times that for noncarriers, which is one of the highest relative risks of an environmental agent known for a human cancer (16-18). In some populations, the lifetime risk that chronic carriers will develop PHC is as high as 40% in males, and almost half of all deaths in carriers 40 years or older have been attributed to PHC (16, 294). There is some evidence suggesting that the relative risk of PHC among chronic carriers is the same in regions of the world with a low incidence of HBV carriers as in regions with a high incidence of carriers (280), although the general applicability of these observations remains to be confirmed. Since other environmental carcinogens or promoting agents (for example, hepatitis C virus, aflatoxin B1 [AFB1], nitrosamines, alcohol, tobacco, and oral contraceptives) implicated in PHC (16, 171, 203, 347) are unequally distributed among regions with high and low incidences of chronic HBV carriers, the close correlation between chronic HBV infection and the development of PHC is consistent with the conclusion that HBV is able to cause PHC in the absence of other environmental agents. The latter point has been convincingly demonstrated by recent evidence showing that WHV can act as a complete carcinogen (275). If this is also true for HBV, other agents may either contribute to the incidence of PHC independently from HBV infection or act synergistically with HBV during chronic infection. Recent work, for example, has shown that HBV and AFB1 do not appear to act synergistically, since the ages of PHC patients with both HBV infection (i.e., chronic carriers) and AFB1 exposure (measured by determining the levels of aflatoxinDNA adducts in liver) were not significantly different from the ages of PHC patients with evidence of HBV infection or AFB1 exposure alone (420). This is in apparent contrast to results of earlier work, which suggested that exposure to AFB1 in HBV carriers increases the risk of developing PHC (133, 205). However, exposure of WHV-carrier woodchucks to AFB1 had no effect on the appearance of PHC (357), which is compatible with a lack of synergy between WHV and AFB1. Exposure of DHBV-infected ducklings (which are highly susceptible to the effects of AFB1 [370]) to this carcinogen resulted in liver abnormalities and PHC independent of DHBV infection (60), again suggesting that DHBV and AFB1 do not act synergistically. However, the idea that chemical carcinogens contribute to the etiology of PHC in HBV-infected hosts has been supported by recent evidence in HBsAg-producing transgenic mice (73). Transgenic mice containing a single copy of HBV DNA without the core region were mated with another strain of mice that developed spontaneous hepatocellular carcinomas. The offspring (50% with HBV DNA and the other 50% without HBV DNA) were treated with a single dose of a known chemical hepatocarcinogen (diethylnitrosamine or p-dimethylaminoazobenzene). The numbers and sizes of proliferative nodules were significantly greater in carcinogen-treated HBVpositive mice than in carcinogen-treated HBV-negative mice. Further, HBV-positive mice treated with diethylnitrosamine developed more hepatocellular adenomas and carcinomas than did HBV-negative mice treated likewise, suggesting that transgenic mice with integrated HBV DNA sequences are more susceptible to the action of chemical hepatocarcinogens than are nontransgenic littermates (73).

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The relevance of the observations in transgenic mice to chronic human infection, however, remains to be determined. Regardless of the contribution of other environmental agents to PHC, the finding of a higher incidence of PHC among HBV carriers than among noncarriers implies (i) that HBV infection may be all that is needed for PHC and (ii) that the continued expression of one or more viral antigens during chronic infection is important to the pathogenesis of liver cancer. Evidence in support of the first point comes from observations showing a very high incidence of PHC among experimentally infected neonatal woodchucks compared with uninfected controls (115, 275), suggesting that WHV acted as a complete carcinogen under controlled experimental conditions. Further observations have shown that HBsAg carrier children from an institution for the mentally retarded, which is free of most known chemical hepatocarcinogens, had a relative risk of developing PHC of more than 200 (200). Evidence in support of the second point comes from observations that HBxAg and HBsAg are common markers in the livers of chronically infected patients who are at high risk for the development of PHC (283, 393, 394, 418) and that each of these antigens may be expressed, in the absence of HBV replication, from viral nucleic acid templates integrated into one or more host chromosomes (see below). The finding that HBV gene products made from integrated templates stimulated the expression of many cellular genes (7, 42, 56, 169, 331, 378) is consistent with the possibility that such trans-activating properties result in alterations in cellular gene expression important to changing the patterns of cellular behavior from normal to neoplastic. In this way, HBV and like viruses may be complete carcinogens under experimentally controlled conditions. Under natural conditions, however, HBV-infected human populations are probably exposed to at least one other environmental agent, resulting in the very high incidence of PHC observed. The contribution of factors other than chronic HBV infection to PHC arises from observations that point to a discordance between the frequency of the HBV carrier state and the incidence of PHC in several parts of the world (133, 171). For example, some studies show a stronger correlation between PHC incidence and the estimated dietary intake of AFB1 than between PHC incidence and the geographic distribution of HBV infection (395, 412). A preliminary study has shown that in a population with a high HBV carrier rate and a low consumption of AFB1, the incidence of PHC was considerably lower than expected (226). Although the mechanism of AFB1-mediated liver carcinogenesis probably involves the formation of AFB1-DNA adducts in liver cells (62), suppression of cellular immunity by AFB1 may have contributed to the establishment or persistence of the HBV carrier state (205). Additional studies have shown that alcohol consumption, contaminated water, low selenium levels in the diet, tobacco smoking, certain occupations, and androgen therapy may also be important to the etiology of PHC and may contribute to the observed discordance between the frequency of PHC and of the HBV carrier state (133, 171). These observations suggest that the etiology of PHC could vary in different parts of the world. For example, PHC develops on a background of cirrhosis in both highincidence regions (Africa and eastern Asia) and low-incidence regions (Europe and North America) of the world (173). However, in high-incidence regions, CAH and cirrhosis develop as a consequence of the HBV chronic carrier state, whereas in low incidence areas, cirrhosis often devel-

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ops as a consequence of prolonged high levels of alcohol intake (132, 415). Ultimately, the relative contributions of HBV and other factors to the etiology of PHC may become more apparent when children who live in areas of the world where HBV is endemic and who are undergoing HBV vaccination (345, 346) mature. If chronic infection with HBV is a leading cause of PHC worldwide, the incidence of this cancer should decrease, especially in endemic areas, in the coming decades. These observations would unequivocally show that the HBV vaccine prevents the development of one of the major cancers in the world. Age, gender, and sex hormones. Among HBV carriers, age, sex, chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and an elevated serum immunoglobulin M anti-HBc level have been identified as additional risk factors for PHC (16). On a worldwide basis, the incidence of PHC increases linearly with age in both male and female carriers (16). In areas of the world with a high prevalence of HBV carriers, PHC is roughly two- to fourfold more common in males than in females (243, 263). This difference in PHC incidence is thought to be due to hormonal differences between the sexes. Anabolic steroid therapy for bone marrow anaplasia (164, 225) and the use of oral contraceptives by women (12, 77, 211, 228) are both associated with increased incidence of benign and malignant liver tumors in the apparent absence of HBV infection. Estrogen receptors on human liver cells (74, 277) may mediate the association between oral contraceptives and PHC, but this remains to be shown. The finding of higher concentrations of functionally active androgen receptors on PHC tumor cells compared with normal hepatocytes (160, 241, 242), suggests that PHC growth may be stimulated by androgens (86, 138), which would contribute to the high incidence of PHC in males. Additional support comes from findings in transgenic mice that produce HBsAg. Pubescent male mice produced 5 to 10 times as much HBsAg as did age-matched female mice. Castration of the male mice resulted in concentrations of HBsAg reduced to the levels observed in female mice; replacement hormone therapy reestablished the high levels of HBsAg expression (88, 279). Additional support for a hormonal role in the appearance of benign and malignant liver tumors comes from work with PHC-prone transgenic mice with integrated HBV DNA (73). When these mice were treated with a single dose of a chemical hepatocarcinogen, male mice developed many more liver nodules and tumors than did female littermates similarly exposed, suggesting that the hormonal environment is an important determinant of tumor development. Further work showing that corticosteroids stimulate HBV replication in cell culture demonstrates that the hormonal environment could have a major impact on the regulation of virus gene expression and replication, which may be relevant to the establishment and maintenance of the chronic carrier state (373). The underlying basis for these observations is the presence of a glucocorticoid-responsive element in the genome of HBV and related viruses (372). By analogy with the way glucocorticoids change the patterns of gene expression among responsive cells, it is possible that selected glucocorticoids bind to appropriate receptors at the surface of infected cells and then migrate as a complex to the nucleus. Specific recognition and binding of this complex to the glucocorticoid responsive element within HBV DNA result in the stimulation in the expression of one or more HBV gene products. Sustained stimulation of HBV polypeptide synthesis and virus multiplication may promote the maintenance of the chronic liver state. Since the chronic carrier state is an important risk factor for the development

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of chronic liver disease and PHC, continuing stimulation of the glucocorticoid responsive element of HBV may ultimately contribute to the high incidence of PHC in males. Chronic liver disease. Epidemiological evidence has also shown that PHC most often appears in HBV carriers with cirrhosis and/or CAH, although the risk for carriers without liver disease is also elevated, but less so (16, 149). PHC is common among HBV carriers with macronodular cirrhosis, whereas the risk of PHC in patients with micronodular cirrhosis is much lower (16). Further, the risk of developing PHC is much greater among symptomatic patients with cirrhosis than among asymptomatic patients with cirrhosis. It has been pointed out that PHC could arise from cells among regenerating cirrhotic nodules regardless of the cause of the cirrhosis (101, 165, 417). If so, the close association between cirrhosis and PHC among HBV carriers suggests that the chronic carrier state is an important cause of cirrhosis in endemic regions and that with the appearance of cirrhosis, the liver is ripe for the development of PHC (173). HBV may contribute to cirrhosis by stimulating the turnover of hepatocytes in response to removal of HBV-infected cells by immune responses during recurring bouts of CAH. This process of cellular turnover, which is an essential component of progressive liver disease associated with chronic HBV infection, is also fundamental to carcinogenesis (55, 61). Prolonged periods of rapid cellular turnover increases the probability of genetic mutations that are not repaired and that ultimately become fixed in rapidly dividing cells. The environment that stimulates this cellular proliferation will select cells which, by virtue of genetic alterations, have a selective growth advantage (24, 25). Many chemicals or other agents that increase cell proliferation (and, in so doing, act as promoters) during the course of chronic HBV infection may contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis, even though many are not genotoxic (55). For example, in areas characterized by a low incidence of HBV infection, PHC may arise in patients with micronodular cirrhosis associated with chronic alcohol consumption (173), although the increased risk is small (16). It is not clear whether alcohol (16, 262) (or other agents such as vinyl chloride, hormones, or cottonseed oil) acts as a tumor promoter or, in some cases, as a cocarcinogen (94) in conjunction with the HBV carrier state. In addition, any agent that stimulates cellular proliferation reduces the dose at which genotoxic chemical exposure results in cancer (55). Therefore, the contribution of various chemicals or other infectious agents to PHC may be partially dependent on whether progressive chronic liver disease is present. The importance of cellular proliferation to PHC has been convincingly demonstrated in transgenic mice making HBsAg polypeptides in the liver (50, 51). These polypeptides accumulated in the liver over time, and ultimately reached toxic levels, resulting in extensive hepatocellular necrosis and massive regeneration. Finally, nodules of PHC appeared. Similarly, PHC resulted from stimulation of hepatocellular growth by insertion of the simian virus 40 T (tumor) antigen and human growth hormone genes into the mouse genome (229, 271). Independent observations that PHC in children is associated with the rapid development of CAH and cirrhosis (153) also illustrate the central roles of severe liver injury and extensive regeneration in the pathogenesis of this tumor type. Recent work has shown that elevated levels of transformation growth factor alpha (which stimulates hepatocellular regeneration) and transformation growth factor beta (which is closely associated with enhanced procollagen synthesis and fibrosis) are likely to be important parts


of the host response to hepatocellular necrosis, which accompanies the development of cirrhosis (43, 89, 126, 320). These results suggest that continued hepatocellular proliferation and regeneration during the course of HBV-associated chronic liver disease may promote the development of PHC after initiation by HBV, other infectious agents (e.g., hepatitis C virus [48, 57, 176, 261]), and/or hepatocarcinogenic chemicals. Even though progressive chronic liver disease was identified as a risk factor for PHC (16), PHC develops most often in cirrhotic patients who are also HBV carriers but not in cirrhotic patients who are not carriers (16, 256). These observations underscore the importance of the chronic carrier state to the pathogenesis of PHC. The facts that PHC is associated with a high mortality rate and that few effective treatments are available (108, 268, 305) emphasize that an understanding of the mechanism(s) responsible for the pathogenesis of PHC is crucial for determining and evaluating intervention strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of this tumor type.

PUTATIVE CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MODELS FOR PHC ASSOCIATED WITH CHRONIC HBV INFECTION Multiple lines of evidence on both the cellular and molecular levels demonstrate that HBV is a major etiologic agent of PHC. Hepadnavirus DNA has been found integrated into host DNA in both tumor and nontumor tissues. The sites of integration appear to be random with respect to cellular DNA. Integration is often accompanied by rearrangements of both virus and cellular DNA, resulting in translocation, amplification, deletion, and other alterations in host genetic material. Viral RNA and proteins have also been demonstrated in the cells of such primary tumors, although the functions of the viral proteins important to the pathogenesis of PHC are not known. Tissue culture cell lines derived from such primary tumors have provided additional evidence for a close association between HBV and PHC on the cellular and molecular levels. In all, the available literature suggests a number of mechanisms by which HBV and related viruses cause PHC. Integration Sites of HBV DNA in PHC Cells HBV DNA is integrated into host chromosomal DNA in both tumor and nontumor tissues (316, 404) in 80 to 90% of the published cases (292). Integration of hepadnavirus DNA in PHC cells from chronically infected woodchucks (329, 330, 338), ground squirrels (212, 215), and ducks (159, 413) has also been documented, demonstrating the generality of this property among these viruses. Integration of HBV at multiple sites within the host genome occurs early after infection (19, 29, 47, 153, 172, 355, 404). These observations imply that one or more integrated species may carry out functions important to the initiation and/or maintenance of PHC. This rationale has prompted a number of laboratories to carry out the cloning and partial sequencing of integrated viral DNA species (69, 143, 184, 406, 421). A salient feature of integration is that one virus-host junction often occurs in or around one of two 11-bp direct repeat sequences in viral DNA (69, 143) (Fig. 1). This finding has generated speculation that the viral templates for integration derive from replicative intermediates of HBV DNA, since HBV DNA replication initiates within these direct repeat sequences

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(362) (Fig. 2). This suggestion is supported by additional evidence demonstrating that the pool of nuclear supercoiled viral DNA (234, 299) is maintained by the transport of DNA replication intermediates from the cytoplasm (234, 403). In the scheme of virus replication (Fig. 2), supercoiled viral DNA acts as a template for pregenomic RNA synthesis. The pregenomic RNA is then transported into the cytoplasm and becomes encapsidated in immature core particles. Reverse transcription of minus-strand DNA and synthesis of plusstrand DNA usually result in the production of mature virus particles. However, some of the core particles with these growing viral DNA strands (i.e., replication intermediates) are transported back into the nucleus, where both strands become full length and then ligated, so that they enter the pool of supercoiled molecules. With regard to integration, the finding of direct repeat sequences at one virus-host junction contrasts sharply with viral sequences found at the other virus-host junction, which vary with respect to the nucleotide position in viral DNA at the junction (321, 404). The facts that integration probably occurs by nonhomologous recombination (i.e., at sites with little or no homology with host DNA) and that it often occurs at the direct repeat sequences within viral DNA are consistent with the suggestion that one or more host enzymes carry out virus integration. Independent evidence has shown that the cellular enzyme topoisomerase I mediates integration of simian virus 40 DNA into host chromatin (34, 35), and recent experiments have shown that this may also be the case for HBV (390). Hence, the persistence of HBV in infected hepatocytes, some of which ultimately develop into PHC, occurs by integration of HBV DNA into one or more sites within the host DNA and is probably mediated by the action of one or more host enzymes, which include topoisomerase I. cis-Acting Mechanisms of PHC Fusion proteins. Integration of virus DNA into chromosomal DNA may result in small deletions and/or duplications of virus and/or host sequences adjacent to the point of integration (143, 244, 349, 406, 421). Although the significance of these observations is uncertain, it is clear that many such integration events yield a structure in which the translation stop codon for the X gene is deleted. Expression of such integrated species can result in a unique polypeptide(s) consisting of sequences from adjacent virus and host ORFs (244, 270, 300, 349, 421). In some retroviral systems, such hybrid proteins are very important for transformation (287, 391, 399), and the same may be true for HBV. Fusion proteins consisting of HBV gene product(s) and one or more cell-encoded proteins, however, have not been reported. If fusion proteins are important to hepatocarcinogenesis mediated by HBV, then HBV integration should occur at a single site or at a very few sites within the host DNA so that the correct fusion proteins could be made. Instead, HBV integration has been reported to occur in chromosomes 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 15, 17, and 18 and in the X chromosome (22, 27, 66, 144, 222, 244, 292, 296, 421). It appears, then, that there is little specificity for the sites of HBV DNA integration into the host DNA during chronic infection and that integration occurs at many sites by illegitimate recombination. These considerations do not rule out the possibility that fusion proteins are made and play important roles in hepatocarcinogenesis, because it could be argued that it is the rare integration event at the appropriate gene that is important. In this context, there is evidence for integration of HBV DNA into sites of cellular DNA with limited homology to viral

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DNA (185, 349), implying that integration may not be completely random. In addition, there are short repetitive sequences within the human genome, referred to as variable number of tandem repeats, which have limited homology with DNA sequences within the X ORF (245). It is possible that these repetitive sequences are preferred sites of integration, although this has not been demonstrated. However, the fact that HBV DNA integrates at different host chromosomal sites in different patients (315, 316) argues against the hypothesis that integration at one or more common sites is crucial for the production of fusion proteins that are important to the development of PHC. In addition, the long latency period between HBV infection and the development of PHC in most cases (30 to >50 years) argues against the importance of the fusion protein(s) in transformation, since retroviruses which cause cancer by this mechanism are acutely transforming. The long incubation period also precludes the existence of a dominant oncogene encoded by the viral genome. Promotion-insertion. If there are sites within the host genome at which HBV integration commonly occurs, such integration events could result in enhanced or inappropriate expression of one or more neighboring genes. In this so called promotion-insertion model (136, 177, 303), viral integration could result in the altered expression of cellular oncogenes or proteins important to the regulation of the cell cycle. For example, several studies have shown that WHV DNA could integrate near the cellular c-myc locus, resulting in the apparent activation of this cellular oncogene (79, 156, 239). In this context, "activation" is defined as the introduction of a point mutation(s) into a cellular oncogene, the rearrangement of cellular oncogene sequences so that expression is enhanced under strong enhancer and/or promoter sequences, and/or the creation of many copies of the oncogene by the transformed cells. Similarities exist between this mechanism and that of c-myc activation in bursal lymphomas, which is mediated by integration of some avian leukosis viruses near the c-myc locus (274). It may be relevant that one of these avian leukosis viruses, MC29, causes PHC and has sequences related to c-myc within the region of the virus genome responsible for transformation (15, 319). In a study of 30 WVHV-infected woodchucks with PHC, 6 had insertions of WHV DNA next to c-myc. Eighteen of the 30 animals had elevated levels of c-myc RNA; some of the latter also had WHV DNA integrated near c-myc. Elevated c-myc expression in the absence of nearby integrated WHV DNA sequences may be due to transactivation of c-myc by one or more virus gene products (see below) and/or rearrangements in the c-myc locus. However, there are no reports demonstrating that HBV is integrated near c-myc in human tumor or nontumor tissues. In addition, the finding that c-myc expression is rarely elevated in HBV-associated PHC cells (91, 191, 384) suggests that promotion-insertion at a c-myc locus is not common and may not contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of PHC. However, amplification of the c-myc gene in tumor tissue compared with nontumor tissue has been observed in some cases (368), although the significance of this observation is not clear. The facts that PHC nodules consist of proliferating cells and that c-myc expression is elevated during liver regeneration (90, 91) suggest that the elevations of expression of c-myc (and other oncogene products) in tumors may be the consequence, rather than the cause, of cellular proliferation in tumors. Hence, the relationship of hepadnavirus DNA integration to c-myc activation and the importance of c-myc activation to PHC remain to be clarified.

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The activation of c-myc in a fraction of woodchuck PHC accompanied by changes in the number and size of c-myc-related transcripts (239). Additional characterization has shown that the c-myc locus in these tumors is rearranged and that in some cases, chromosomal rearrangements bring about a fusion between c-myc sequences and other cellular genes (79, 238). Such rearrangements may result in the production of chimeric gene products from two or more cellular genes, and these new products may contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis. In this regard, it is clear that hepadnavirus integration events are often associated with rearrangements in both viral and cellular DNA sequences (52, 144, 221, 259, 273, 297, 364) that may result in the production of chimeric cellular proteins. If such rearrangements are essential steps in the pathogenesis of PHC, a function of hepadnavirus integration may be to bring about insertional

cases is

mutagenesis (67). The mechanisms by which viral DNA integration gives rise to mutations within cellular genes may be varied. For c-myc, direct insertion near the oncogene locus or rearrangement at such a locus alters the quantity and characteristics of the oncogene products made. In addition to using c-myc as a target for insertional mutation, one integrant of HBV DNA occurred near the gene that encodes the retinoic acid receptor (66). Further analysis showed that this integration results in the creation of a new gene consisting of the 5' end of the surface antigen gene fused with the gene encoding the retinoic acid receptor. The normal receptor binds vitamin A-related retinoic acid, which is important for the regulation of cell growth and differentiation (28, 67) and is related to a family of DNA-binding hormone receptor genes that are also involved in the same cellular processes (80). Integration of HBV DNA near the cyclin A gene has also been reported (392). The cyclin A gene encodes a protein important to the regulation of the cell cycle (90). The important roles of the products of these genes in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation are consistent with the conclusion that their altered expression may be a factor in the etiology of some cases of PHC, but such integration events seem to occur in only a tiny fraction of human PHC patients examined. In this context, it is important to point out that the patterns of HBV expression and replication are dependent on the state of differentiation of an infected cell (5, 45, 148, 246, 282, 369). Integration of HBV near genes encoding proteins important to the cell cycle may stimulate growth and thus contribute to the appearance of PHC. Changes in the patterns of cell growth in the liver are likely to be accompanied by changes in the state of cellular differentiation, so that the proliferating hepatocytes may be less capable of supporting HBV replication than are fully differentiated hepatocytes at rest. The observation that virus replication decreases as the duration of chronic HBV infection increases (316) is consistent with this hypothesis. A cellular model of chronic HBV infection (24, 25) (Fig. 3) proposes that early during infection (but after infancy), most of the hepatocytes in the liver are fully differentiated nondividing cells susceptible to HBV infection and capable of supporting virus replication. With the removal of such cells by various immune responses during chronic infection, and with increasing integration of HBV DNA that results in insertional mutagenesis, more and more of the cells in the liver become less differentiated proliferating cells which are less capable of being infected by HBV and of supporting HBV replication. Additional evidence in support of the idea that there is a relationship between hepadnavirus replication and the state of cellular differentiation comes from studies showing that


DHBV replicates in primary duck hepatocytes that have been freshly plated but does not replicate in cultures that dedifferentiate in culture over several weeks (374, 375). Further, the susceptibility of primary duck hepatocytes to infection decreases as the time after plating increases, implying that changes in host cell differentiation have profound effects on the host-virus relationship. Moreover, it is known that the surface promoter (45, 81, 282, 361), pre-Sl promoter (246), core promoter (148, 204, 361, 411), and enhancer of HBV (5, 148, 318, 361, 369) are most active in differentiated cell lines of hepatocellular origin, less active in undifferentiated hepatocellular lines, and often inactive in other cell lines. Probably as a result of these activities, HBV replicates in differentiated but not in undifferentiated hepatoma cell lines. Hence, infection of susceptible hepatocytes with HBV results in HBV integration that is likely to have a major impact on the host-virus relationship that evolves. Putative role of other oncogenes. In addition to the activation of c-myc, activation of other known or newly described oncogenes in PHC patients has been reported (110, 135, 324, 419). The associations of point mutations with chemical hepatocarcinogens and of genetic instability (see below) with chronic HBV infection are consistent with the hypothesis that activation of one or more cellular oncogenes may accompany hepatocarcinogenesis. For example, one report demonstrates coamplification of integrated HBV DNA sequences with a newly characterized transforming gene, hst-i (135). Other studies suggests that the oncofetal gene Ica may be reactivated in PHC cells (258, 324). AFB1 is capable of activating ras oncogenes associated with PHC in rats (224). C3B6F1, a mouse strain prone to the development of spontaneous PHC (105, 288), is also highly susceptible to oncogene activation in response to chemical hepatocarcinogens (289, 398). Again, one or more of the ras oncogenes are the major targets for these chemical carcinogens. Activation of the oncogene N-ras has been reported in PHC (350), but on close examination the gene was found to be activated only in a small fraction of tumor cells, suggesting that such activation may be secondary to the generation of PHC and, instead, may reflect tumor heterogeneity. An activated c-raf oncogene has also been documented in chemically induced rat PHC cells (161), again suggesting a close correlation between oncogene activation and hepatocarcinogenesis. It is not clear, however, whether activation of oncogenes actually contributes to the cause or is the consequence of transformation, since increased oncogene expression is characteristic of growth accompanying fetal liver development and liver regeneration (90, 91). The central importance of activated oncogenes to the genesis of various tumors (37, 58), including PHC (188), has prompted additional studies addressing a possible relationship between HBV DNA integration and alterations in oncogenes and/or oncogene expression. Investigations of integrated HBV DNA and flanking host sequences have failed to consistently show viral integration near one or more known oncogenes (52, 181). Other observations have shown that dominant oncogenes are not rearranged in PHC cells as a result of chromosomal alterations (384). However, several laboratories have shown the existence of activated oncogenes in PHC cells, in that DNA isolated from primary tumors or PHC-derived cell lines were capable of transforming NIH 3T3 cells from a nontumorigenic to a tumorigenic cell line (40, 119, 121, 161, 255, 258, 292, 408). The DNA sequences isolated from most of the transformants did not contain HBV DNA, implying that HBV was not required for maintenance of the transformed state. The combined data

VOL. 5, 1992


suggest that although activation of cellular oncogenes could result in liver tumors under experimental conditions, these events are not common in HBV-associated PHC. Many changes in the patterns of cellular gene expression accompany hepatocarcinogenesis. These changes could come about as a result of hepatocyte dedifferentiation (381) and/or proliferation of immature stem cells in the liver (236, 278). Work has shown that the earliest cellular response to chemical carcinogen exposure in the liver involves the proliferation of small nonparenchymal cells referred to as oval cells (83, 311). These cells, which are morphologically and biochemically distinguishable from mature hepatocytes, proliferate under defined circumstances and differentiate into mature hepatocytes (202, 310). Oval cells are also the precursors of bile duct epithelium and pancreatic cells (310, 359). The fact that hepadnaviruses infect bile duct epithelium (23, 60, 379, 393) and subpopulations of cells within the pancreas (68, 127, 128, 163, 323) in addition to hepatocytes raises the question of whether infection of oval cells provides an important source of rapidly proliferating infected cells that give rise to tumors at these sites. The findings of hepadnavirus antigens in bile duct cells and tumor cells from patients with cholangiocarcinoma (393) and of HBsAg within nontumor cells from some patients with pancreatic carcinoma (146) are consistent with these ideas. The finding that oval cells proliferate only under conditions in which mature hepatocytes do not (e.g., because of the toxic effects of carcinogens on hepatocytes) (70, 83, 311) suggests that when mature hepatocytes supporting HBV replication are eliminated during the course of chronic liver disease, some regenerative nodules are derived from these dividing oval cells. If oval cells are infected, the genetic instability associated with hepadnavirus infections (see below) may provide some proliferating oval cells with the growth advantage needed to take the next step toward neoplasia. With rapid cell division, the expression of cellular oncogenes and other growth factors would increase significantly (109). In this way, oncogene expression would be tightly linked to the regenerative responses that occur during episodes of chronic liver disease and would be associated with an increased risk of developing PHC. In rat liver, there is sustained elevation of cellular oncogene expression in oval cells proliferating in response to chemical carcinogens (410). Thus, both chronic HBV infection and chemical carcinogen exposure are associated with increased oncogene expression (or oncogene activation) and may be important in better understanding the pathogenesis of PHC (55, 61).

Genetic Instability and Recessive Carcinogenesis Chromosomal rearrangements and loss of antioncogenes. The persistence of hepadnavirus DNA in liver and tumor nodules has been central in implicating these viruses as causative agents of PHC (221, 292, 316). However, roughly 15% of HBsAg carrier patients with PHC do not have evidence of HBV DNA integrated into tumor tissue (104, 232, 317, 337). The absence of integrated hepadnavirus DNA has also been observed among infected woodchucks (275, 276), ducks (213), and ground squirrels (292). Among some populations of ducks, PHC is more closely associated with AFB1 exposure than with DHBV infection (60, 370, 379). Among chronic carrier woodchucks and ground squirrels, however, the absence of integrated virus DNA implies that hepadnavirus infection may be required for the initiation but not maintenance of PHC. The absence of integrated virus DNA in PHC from infected hosts may be the consequence of

283

the genetic rearrangements and deletions that accumulate during the course of infection. In WHV infection, for example, the structures of integrated WHV DNAs from the livers of chronically infected animals were colinear with those found in cloned isolates of the virus genome (297), demonstrating that integration events occur without rearrangement of virus sequences. In liver tumors from WHV-infected animals, the structure of the integrated WHV DNA was highly rearranged (259), suggesting that rearrangements occur during the course of chronic infection. As presented above, genetic rearrangements occurred in both viral and cellular sequences, suggesting that integration may be associated with the generation of chromosomal aberrations. To test this hypothesis, the ability of an HBV DNA integrant from a human PHC to give rise to chromosomal aberrations in transgenic mice was assayed (140-142). Transgenic mice were made by injection of a fragment of PHC DNA (containing an inverted repeat of HBV DNA at the origin of virus replication) that had previously been cloned from a PHC patient who had an HBV-associated chromosomal translocation between chromosomes 17 and 18 (144) as a result of gene rearrangements in vivo. Deletions in and rearrangements of the HBV DNA-containing clone were observed in descendants of some transgenic lineages (140-142), indicating that the transgene was unstable during transmission. The results also demonstrate that these types of genetic changes occur in somatic cells undergoing mitosis (and not in gametes undergoing meiosis), which is a situation analogous to that of hepatocytes undergoing regeneration during chronic liver disease. The significance of such findings is underscored by previous work showing that agents which cause chromosomal aberrations are associated with an increased risk of cancer (120, 171, 177, 310, 315). Hence, integration of HBV DNA during chronic infection may create genetic instability, which is an important step in the pathogenesis of PHC. If a major effect of HBV DNA integration into host chromatin is to induce chromosomal mutations and instability (140) and if such alterations in the host DNA are not repaired, some of these changes will become permanent and confer growth advantages on colonies of cells beyond that necessary for regeneration. In this context, the regenerative stimulus provided by progressive liver disease promotes the development of foci that eventually develop into nodules of PHC. These relationships may explain the much higher risk of PHC among HBV carriers with progressive chronic liver disease than among HBV carriers with little or no liver disease. There is considerable evidence that cancer may be caused by the mutation or loss of genes encoding proteins responsible for maintaining cellular differentiation and for suppressing uncontrolled cellular proliferation (301). These tumor suppressor genes (178, 301), or antioncogenes (180), are capable of suppressing the tumorigenic phenotype of neoplastic cells in culture and in animals (178, 301, 332, 333). Given that HBV DNA is associated with chromosomal instability during the course of chronic liver disease, it is possible that the consequence of such genetic instability is somatic mutation that results in the inactivation and/or loss

of one or more tumor suppressor genes. In this model of

carcinogenesis, one of the two alleles from a putative tumor

suppressor gene becomes nonfunctional through mutation at one or more points or through deletion (Fig. 4). When the gene is lost through deletion, the individual becomes hemizygous for the wild-type gene. This situation leaves an individual at high risk for the development of PHC. When

284

FEITELSON


PHC in children

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VOL. 5, 1992


285

FIG. 4. Chromosomal mechanisms by which an initial predisposing recessive germinal or somatic mutation could be revealed. In a hereditary case (left) the child inherits from his or her parent a chromosome that carries a recessive defect at a tumor suppressor gene locus (-), so that the child is genotypically E/+ in all of his or her cells. A tumor would occur after the elimination of the dominant wild-type allele at the tumor suppressor gene locus by one of the mechanisms shown at the bottom of the diagram. In a sporadic case (right), a recessive mutation occurs in a single predisposed cell and a tumor occurs when the recessive mutation is unmasked by one of the mechanisms shown at the bottom. Modified and reprinted with permission from Cancer Research (130).

the function of the second allele is lost through additional somatic mutations (point mutations or deletions), the loss in heterozygosity often correlates with the appearance of a particular tumor type (130). Cell proliferation during chronic liver disease promotes the loss of heterozygosity through nondisjunction with or without reduplication, recombination, or other genetic events (Fig. 4). Under these circumstances, genetic differences between tumor and surrounding nontumor tissue from the same patient can be detected by restriction fragment length polymorphism mapping. This multistep process, which results in the loss of function of both tumor suppressor alleles, often takes years or decades to occur and illustrates the recessive character of such tumors. Loss of heterozygosity on chromosomes 4 (33, 388, 419), 5 (110), 8 (327), 10 (110), 11 (296, 388, 389), 13 (388, 389), 16 (110, 327, 419), and/or 17 (110, 144, 327, 388) has been found in patients with PHC. These results imply the existence of one or more tumor suppressor genes within regions where loss of heterozygosity was detected. The importance of tumor suppressor genes to PHC will have to be demonstrated by using somatic cell hybridization and gene replacement experiments (11, 158, 367, 396). Regardless of the results, genomic instability associated with chronic HBV infection is consistent with the long latency period prior to the appearance of PHC, with observations that different fragments of HBV DNA are present in different tumors, and with the fact that some established tumors from infected patients have no detectable HBV DNA (110, 292). The last point implies a "hit-and run" mechanism for HBV-associated PHC and is consistent with the hypothesis that integrated HBV DNA could promote genetic aberrations resulting in the loss of tumor suppressor genes. Such genetic instability could also result in the amplification of oncogene products and/or the activation of growth regulatory molecules. Known tumor suppressor genes (44, 102, 193, 217) have not been found in association with most of the chromosomes with documented loss of heterozygosity. Loss of heterozygosity at chromosome llp results in the loss of the H-RAS1 oncogene (389) and the WAGR locus, both of which are also lost in Wilms' tumor (an embryonal carcinoma) (107, 286, 290). It has been proposed that the loss of one or more tumor suppressor genes from chromosome llp results in the activation of insulinlike growth factor II, which may stimulate tumor growth (109) analogous to that observed with Wilms' tumor (285, 304). Enhanced insulinlike growth factor II expression has been found in several cell lines derived from human PHC and in primary tumors from both HBV-infected humans and WHV-infected woodchucks (38, 39, 109, 295). The loss of heterozygosity at chromosome llp in PHC cells includes loss of the region that is responsible for the appearance of certain embryonal tumors such as rhabdomyosarcoma, Wilms' tumor, and hepatoblastoma (187). Chromosome 13q14 is the location of the retinoblastoma locus (RB-I), which encodes one or more tumor suppressor products, whose loss results in sporadic and hereditary retinoblastoma (44, 193). Aberrations in the RB-I gene have

recently been found in other tumors such as breast carcinoma (356) and small cell lung cancer (131), although preliminary analysis suggest that the RB-I gene is structurally intact in Wilms' tumor and PHC (356). Most recently, however, loss of heterozygosity at 13q, which includes the RB-I gene, has been observed in several HBV-negative PHC patients (388). The finding that the loss of heterozygosity occurs at some chromosomes in several patients with PHC and at other chromosomes in other patients suggests that these deletions are not random but that the pathogenesis resulting in PHC may be heterogeneous on the molecular level (389). Further evidence consistent with this interpretation comes from a study that directly characterized the karyotype of a PHC (326). The results showed abnormalities in chromosomes 1, 5, 6, 9, 13, 16, and 22 that appeared to occur at fragile sites and/or near selected cellular oncogenes. Various rearrangements among most of these chromosomes were observed, and chromosomes 13 and 16 were deleted. Combined with the lack of HBV DNA associated with this tumor, the results again illustrate that PHC arises from cells that have undergone somatic mutations in the form of chromosomal rearrangements and deletions and that such aberrations appear to be central to the pathogenesis of PHC independent of HBV status. p53, AFBj, and hepatocarcinogenesis. There is some evidence that the p53 tumor suppressor (194) may also play an important role in the pathogenesis of PHC. The p53 gene, located on chromosome 17p, encodes a protein that negatively regulates cell proliferation (9, 253). One or more point mutations within the p53 gene result in a protein that promotes cellular proliferation instead. In the former case, wild-type p53 acts as a tumor suppressor, whereas in the latter case, mutant p53 acts as an oncogene (194). HBV DNA integration has been described near the p53 gene in a single PHC patient as an inverted repeat structure containing virus and cellular sequences (421). Further analysis showed that the genetic instability associated with this type of inverted repeat structure resulted in the loss of distinct but overlapping chromosome 17 fragments containing the p53 gene in more than half of the 19 PHC patients examined (327). This observation supports the hypothesis that the mutation or loss of p53 may be an important step in the pathogenesis of PHC. Significantly, the loss of the p53 locus has been detected in a number of other solid tissue tumors, including osteosarcoma (240, 363), astrocytoma (112, 162), colorectal carcinomas (9), neurofibrosarcoma (227), breast cancers (206), and lung cancers (352, 414). The importance of mutation and deletion in p53 alleles to carcinogenesis (194) was further explored by using liver cell lines derived from PHC patients. p53 gene mutations were observed in some (30, 150) but not all PHC cell lines tested (150). Further, the levels of p53-specific RNA in a human PHCderived cell line were unchanged relative to those in the same cell line containing replicating HBV (150), suggesting that HBV does not affect p53 transcription. In contrast, cloning and DNA sequence analysis of the p53 exon sequences from most but not all PHC tissues (from Taiwan)

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showed no evidence of mutations within regions of the gene prone to mutagenesis in other tumors (150). PHC DNA from other populations of patients (from Africa and China), however, had a high frequency of p53 mutation at a single site within the p53 gene compared with nontumor DNA from the same patients (31, 155). Among 16 Chinese patients, half had a point mutation within codon 249 of exon 7 from the p53 gene (155). Among 10 PHC patients from southern Africa, 3 had this same point mutation and 2 others had different mutations within the same p53 exon (31). Three of the African patients with p53 point mutations also showed loss of heterozygosity at chromosome 17p. Given that AFB1 exposure is high in both of these geographical regions and that the point mutation at codon 249 is consistent with those caused by AFB1 in mutagenesis experiments (103, 224, 302), the study suggested that the mutations in p53 were likely to be due to AFB1. Hence, in regions of the world characterized by high AFB1 exposure, which are similar to regions of high HBV carrier prevalence, the very high rates of PHC may result from chromosomal rearrangement (at chromosome 17p and elsewhere) associated with chronic HBV infection and point mutations in p53 associated with longterm AFB1 exposure. In addition, AFB1 requires metabolic activation to exert its carcinogenic effects (62, 118). Recent experiments have shown that liver homogenates from HBVand WHV-infected hosts have enhanced abilities to activate AFB1 and several other chemical hepatocarcinogens compared with liver homogenates from uninfected hosts (64, 65), implying that viral and chemical hepatocarcinogens may act synergistically on the molecular level to produce PHC. A characteristic central to the pathogenesis of PHC in most patients is the fact that 30 to 50 years often pass from the time of HBV infection to the appearance of liver cancer. This long period may reflect the time needed for multiple, rare events to occur for tumor development. This multistep nature of carcinogenesis has been described in well-developed models of chemical hepatocarcinogenesis (84, 85, 310), as well as in sporadic carcinogenesis of other solid tumors (217). In this regard, there have been several reports in the literature documenting the presence of PHC in HBV-infected children (46, 153, 172, 260, 355, 404, 405). The relatively short incubation time for PHC in children is consistent with the hypothesis that these children have a genetic predisposition for the development of such tumors. Under these circumstances, tumor susceptibility would be inherited in the form of a critical mutation(s) in the germ line, and the somatic mutations accumulating as a result of HBV infection would significantly shorten the period between infection and tumor appearance. Documented examples of hereditary tumors (123, 180, 187) point out the importance of germ line mutations in one or more tumor suppressor genes as the major predisposing event. In this model, sporadic cases of PHC would require mutation or loss of both alleles of a tumor suppressor gene, but when a mutation in one of the alleles is inherited, mutation or loss of the remaining allele of a tumor suppressor gene is all that is needed for liver cancer to develop (Fig. 4). The age at which PHC appears would also depend on other factors, such as exposure to aflatoxins, HBV, and/or hepatitis C virus. Clearly, germ line mutations in the RB-I or p53 antioncogenes are associated with several hereditary cancers (20, 44, 179, 210), and it is possible that familial studies will reveal mutations in one or more tumor suppressor genes which contribute to the appearance of PHC in children.


HBV Gene Expression: Putative Roles in PHC

Genetic contribution of hepadnaviruses to cancer. In light of all these studies, the question still arises whether hepadnaviruses make a genetic contribution to PHC (384). The recent observation that GSHV could infect woodchucks may provide an important clue (308). It is clear from the natural history of GSHV and WHV infections that PHC developed in about 30% of GSHV-infected carrier ground squirrels 4 to 5 years of age (212, 215) compared with nearly 100% of WHV-infected carrier woodchucks 2 to 3 years of age (275, 329, 330). When woodchucks were infected with GSHV, however, only about 40% developed PHC at 4 to 5 years of age (306). The observed differences in the behavior of the two viruses (GSHV and WHV) in a single host (the woodchuck) suggest that the differences in tumorigenicity are in the viruses themselves. Since the genetic organizations of GSHV and WHV are very similar (113, 307), it is possible that differences in virus gene products acting in trans on the host cell are crucial for the observed variation in the tumorigenicity of these two viruses. Immunological targeting of virus antigens: relevance to pathogenesis of PHC. Immunohistochemical studies have demonstrated the presence of HBsAg (116, 145, 154, 248, 250, 283, 340), HBxAg (134, 170, 341, 393, 418), and, to a lesser extent, HBcAg (145, 154, 250, 340) and pre-S (71, 72, 106, 125, 139, 358, 360) in tumor and/or nontumor liver cells of patients with PHC. These results imply that the expression of one or more HBV antigens may be significant in the pathogenesis of PHC. HBsAg, for example, is associated with the membranes of hepatocytes in patients who are actively replicating HBV (283); this suggests that HBsAg determinants may be important targets for immune elimination during CAH. In transgenic mice making HBsAg, spleen cells from nontransgenic syngeneic mice previously immunized with purified HBsAg particles were capable of recognizing and destroying host HBsAg-positive hepatocytes (237). However, the facts that there is no correlation between HBsAg expression and liver abnormalities (3, 152, 283) and that HBsAg-specific T cells have not been detected in patients with CAH (75, 76, 385) suggest that HBsAg is not a target for cellular immune responses under most circumstances during infection. Alternatively, the finding that prolonged overproduction of HBsAg by transgenic mice results in massive hepatic necrosis, extensive cellular inflammatory responses, widespread hepatocellular regeneration, and, finally, PHC (50, 51) implies that high levels of antigen production could be directly cytotoxic and that the accompanying regeneration could be important to the creation and propagation of preneoplastic nodules. The facts that HBV replication in tissue culture cells is not accompanied by cytopathic effects (298, 312, 322, 339, 371) and that many HBsAg carriers do not have clinical or biochemical evidence of liver damage (i.e., they are asymptomatic carriers) (149) show that HBV is not directly cytopathic. Hence, HBsAg is probably not a target for immune elimination of hepatocytes during HBV infection. There is considerable evidence that HBcAg is a target for immune elimination (95). For example, there appears to be a close relationship between HBcAg and hepatocyte cell membranes in patients with high levels of virus replication (122, 247, 249, 407). The widespread distribution of HBcAg in the livers of immunosuppressed patients is also consistent with the conclusion that an immune response against core antigen may be important in the elimination of cells that are replicating virus (21). The inverse relationship between HBcAg

VOL. 5, 1992


expression and the severity of liver disease further implicates HBcAg as a target of the immune system (21, 26, 36, 54). In addition, the close association between immunoglobulin M anti-HBc and virus replication during chronic infection (10, 182, 281) and between virus replication and chronic liver disease (CAH and cirrhosis) may explain why both immunoglobulin M anti-HBc and chronic liver disease are risk factors for PHC (16). In addition to HBcAg, the related HBeAg has been proposed as a target related to the pathogenesis of chronic liver disease (95), especially since its biosynthesis involves one or more membrane-associated steps (32). However, the finding of severe CAH in HBsAg carriers who are HBeAg(-) and anti-HBe(+) (53, 124, 201, 284) and the fact that such carriers often have circulating virus with one or more mutations in the precore region (which effectively prevent the synthesis of HBeAg) (1, 41, 380) suggest that another virus antigen target must be responsible for CAH under these circumstances. The finding of virus(es) containing precore mutants associated with cases of fulminant hepatitis (197, 265) also indicates that HBeAg is not involved in the pathogenesis of severe liver disease in such individuals. Hence, HBcAg and HBeAg may be important immunologically recognized targets at some but not other times during the course of chronic infection. There is some evidence that HBxAg is a target for immunological recognition and removal of infected cells. For example, HBxAg is present in the liver in both HBeAG(+) and anti-HBe(+) carriers (134, 167, 341). Forty to 50% of carrier patients with chronic hepatitis B have evidence of membranous HBxAg (394). The persistence of HBxAg may provide an immunological target throughout chronic HBV infection and may contribute significantly to the progression of chronic liver disease and the development of PHC. The detection of anti-HBx in blood (49, 78, 97, 168, 196, 334, 386) and HBxAg-reactive T lymphocytes in the peripheral circulation (166) is also consistent with the recognition and targeting of X determinants during HBV infection. It is likely, however, that host immune responses to several virus antigens are important for the recognition and removal of infected cells. Further work will undoubtedly focus on which HBV products are targets and when during infection targeting occurs. Evidence for trans-activating mechanisms in PHC: putative roles for pre-S and HBxAg gene products. Much work has focused on the possible cis-activating mechanisms that may contribute to hepatocarcinogenesis. However, increasing evidence suggests that one or more virus gene products may contribute to PHC by way of altering the expression of host cellular proteins during infection. This mechanism, referred to as trans-activation, proposes that integrated HBV DNA serves as a template for the production of one or more virus gene products that participate in altering the behavior of the host cell in ways relevant to the development of PHC. Recent reports have identified regions of integrated HBV DNA from PHCs that were capable of stimulating the expression of heterologous genes. One of the cloned regions contained the pre-S2 and a 3'-truncated portion of the S gene, which stimulated both the expression of reporter genes (e.g., chloramphenicol acetyltransferase or luciferase) in nucleic acid constructs and the expression of c-myc (42, 169). The importance of the latter point has been demonstrated by a 5- to 50-fold activation of c-myc expression in several PHC cases associated with chronic WHV infection (239). The lack of integrated WHV sequences within 5 kb of the c-myc locus implies that c-myc activation is not due to the proximity of a virus promoter but instead may be due to

287

the trans-activating properties of a truncated pre-S2/S product. Interestingly, full-length pre-S2/S polypeptide (made from episomal or free virus DNA during viral replication) has no trans-activating properties. It is possible, then, that the deletions and rearrangements of viral DNA that accompany hepadnavirus DNA integration generate new protein species capable of distinctly different biological roles. The possible significance of a truncated pre-S2/S polypeptide to the pathogenesis of PHC remains to be explored. A similar set of observations for the X-gene region of HBV DNA have been reported. Many laboratories have shown that HBxAg is capable of trans-activating a growing list of virus and cellular genes. These include the HBV enhancer, HBV X and core promoters, herpes simplex virus tk promoter, simian virus 40 enhancer and early promoter, and long terminal repeat sequences of human immunodeficiency virus types 1 and 2 among virus sequences (56, 195, 314, 331, 377, 417) and beta interferon, AP1, AP2, RNA polymerase II and III promoters, c-myc, c-fos, and class I major histocompatibility complex among cellular sequences (7, 56, 157, 313, 325, 378, 421). Integrated HBV DNA sequences cloned from PHC tissue are capable of synthesizing HBxAg, which is, in turn, capable of trans-activation (351, 400, 416). Analogous to pre-S2, HBxAg may stimulate c-myc expression in at least some PHC cells by virtue of its trans-activating properties. Additional work has shown that HBxAg is not a DNAbinding protein and that it probably mediates trans-activation by binding to one or more intracellular protein factors (e.g., CREB and ATF-2) that regulate transcription (209, 313). It is thought that the binding of HBxAg to such regulatory proteins alters their DNA-binding characteristics and, as a result, the patterns of virus and host gene expression. These observations suggest that the ability of HBxAg to mediate trans-activation is dependent on the availability of such regulatory proteins, which varies according to the cell cycle (218) and the state of hepatocyte differentiation. The implication of these observations is that the transactivation function(s) of HBxAg may differ widely in asymptomatic carriers without liver disease (in whom hepatocytes are resting and fully differentiated) compared with carriers with CAH or cirrhosis (in whom hepatocytes are undergoing division and may be less differentiated). The correlation between trans-activation and the ability of HBxAg to stimulate HBV gene expression in one human hepatoma cell line, but not in another (183), also suggests that HBxAg function is sensitive to the state of cellular differentiation, which differs in these two cell lines. The mechanism(s) by which HBV mediates trans-activation may be multiple because HBxAg has been found in different regions of infected cells. For example, most of the HBxAg staining observed in liver cells from chronic carriers occurred in the cytoplasm (134, 167, 170, 341, 386, 393, 394, 418). It has been suggested that cytoplasmic HBxAg may interfere with the signal transduction pathway mediated by protein kinase C (186). However, the ability of HBxAg to act as a transcriptional trans-activator is consistent with its being found in the nucleus of hepatocytes. Nuclear localization of HBxAg has recently been observed by immunohistochemical staining in liver sections from more than 70% of HBV carriers with cirrhosis and dysplasia but fewer than 10% of patients with chronic hepatitis B (394). This staining pattern seems to parallel the finding that PHC develops most often on a background of cirrhosis and dysplasia and much less often on a background of chronic hepatitis. The results support the hypothesis that HBxAg made from integrated HBV DNA may play a role in the initiation of PHC by (i)

288


FEITELSON

sumiicient Immune responses elimination of hepatocytes

anti-HBAg, CMI

expressing

membranous

HBV -_ Infection

HBeAg, HBxAg in

HBAgs

0-

1.

_

little or no HBV antigens or pathology in liver

--

low risk for PHC

serum

HBeAg and/or HBxAg persists in serum,

2. trans- CAH -- cirrhosis --

aborted or insufficient immune responses

infection of new cells persistence of HBAg+ hepatocyte

removal of HBAg + cells

3.

--.

activation of cellular genes and/or -_ phosphorylation of cellular proteins by HBxAg

high risk for

PHC

4.

*

virus replicative phase nonreplicative phase

FIG. 5. Schematic representation of the postulated role(s) for HBV antigens (HBAgs) and corresponding immune responses in the pathogenesis of PHC. HBV-infected hepatocytes release HBxAg into the serum along with HBV, HBsAg, and HBeAg. Some infected hepatocytes have cytoplasmic and/or nuclear HBAgs. A subset of infected cells also have plasma membrane-associated HBAgs. (1) If membrane-associated HBxAg, HBcAg, and/or HBeAg serves as the target for an antibody and/or cell-mediated immune (CMI) attack, an appropriate immune response will result in the removal of antigen-positive hepatocytes and recovery from HBV infection (top row). Such individuals would be at reduced risk for the development of PHC. (2) If an aborted or insufficient immune response occurs during infection, HBAgs will persist in liver and serum. Under these conditions, individuals would not seroconvert to viral antibody, and high levels of virus replication would persist. (3) Infection of new hepatocytes with HBV, combined with the ongoing expression of HBAgs in hepatocytes that are not removed, continues to stimulate partially effective immune responses that serve to perpetuate chronic hepatitis, which slowly gives way to cirrhosis (bottom row). (4) The destruction of cells with membranous HBAgs and those producing virus results in proliferation of hepatocytes that do not have membranous viral antigens. The latter group would not support virus replication because they represent a state of differentiation different from that among hepatocytes which do support replication. These nonpermissive hepatocytes may escape immune recognition and removal and are characterized by the nuclear accumulation of HBxAg. HBxAg in the nucleus may trans-activate one or more host genes, phosphorylate one or more host growth regulatory molecules, or both, which may contribute to the establishment of PHC.

localizing in the nuclei of hepatocytes in patients with cirrhosis and dysplasia and (ii) trans-activating the expression of cellular genes responsible for the appearance of the transformed phenotype (Fig. 5). This may involve binding directly to transcription factors and altering their activity, which may result in increased expression of growth factors (possibly insulinlike growth factor II) or cellular oncogenes. HBxAg may also bind inhibitors of transcription factors, as do products from other DNA viruses (8). In addition, it is possible that HBxAg acts through binding to tumor suppressor gene products, which would result in the release of growth controls among selected hepatocytes during infection. The latter mechanism is used by a number of DNA viruses that cause cancer (47, 63, 117, 151, 194, 397). Several studies suggest that mutations or deletions in the p53 locus may be particularly important to the pathogenesis of PHC and that HBxAg binding to wild-type or mutant p53 could be an important step in hepatocarcinogenesis. The targets of HBxAg binding and/or of HBxAg trans-activation will undoubtedly be the focus of many future investigations. The X gene of hepadnaviruses has a number of other characteristics that suggest that it may be centrally involved

with hepatocarcinogenesis. For example, it is located at the extreme 3' end of the hepadnavirus genome, which is analogous to the position of the transforming gene in oncogenic retroviruses (231, 235). The codon usage in the X gene is more similar to that of cellular genes, compared with the rest of the virus genome, implying that the X region may have been acquired from cellular sequences (235). This is consistent with findings that the transforming protein(s) associated with other DNA tumor viruses may also have been acquired from host cell DNA. In such cases, the transduced cellular gene, now a viral oncogene, may be a mutant tumor suppressor gene, which may confer a growth advantage upon infected cells by binding to one or more native tumor suppressor gene products and inactivating them. The result of tumor suppressor gene product inactivation is the alteration in the patterns of cellular growth. Interestingly, there are parallels here with a number of transforming retroviruses that have acquired their transforming gene from cellular oncogene sequences (216, 342, 354). In the retroviruses, however, the transduced genetic material is from a cellular oncogene instead of a tumor suppressor gene. Some parallels may exist here as well,

VOL. 5, 1992


because the trans-activating properties of HBxAg are similar to those of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 tax and tat proteins. The tat protein is capable of producing tumors in transgenic mice (251), as is HBxAg (174). Perhaps the features that distinguish acutely transforming viruses from HBV is that the X region of HBV is really only part of a cellular gene capable of transformation and the other functional domains which would have been required to make HBxAg an acutely transforming protein were never acquired or were lost in the course of host-virus evolution. This would be consistent with a central role for HBxAg in hepatocarcinogenesis but would also take into account the fact that PHC usually occurs only after long-term infection. Additional characteristics of HBxAg are also compatible with its role in hepatocarcinogenesis. For example, integration of HBV DNA into host chromatin often results in the deletion of sequences at the extreme 3' end of the X gene and the trans-activating capability of such an integrated structure is often greater than that of the wild-type X gene (186). These observations suggest that if X trans-activation is important to PHC, integration would provide a mechanism of enhancing this activity. The recent findings that HBxAg has sequences potentially capable of binding divalent metal cations (199) and that HBxAg readily dimerizes (198) (perhaps as a result of metal ion binding) imply that the ability of HBxAg to form a dimer with itself (homodimer) may be important to its function. Dimerization, in turn, may be altered by a posttranslational modification such as phosphorylation. In this context, recent evidence has shown that HBxAg can become phosphorylated at serine and threonine residues (402). The evidence is also compatible with the hypothesis that HBxAg is a protein kinase (402). It has been proposed that the endogenous protein kinase activity associated with virus core particles is carried out by the HBxAg polypeptide, although HBxAg lacks homology with other known protein kinases (129). It is possible, though, that X affects the expression of protein kinases through its trans-activating properties and that such kinases affect the ability of X to mediate trans-activation by altering the state of X phosphorylation. Alternatively, or in addition, altered patterns of protein kinase expression resulting from HBxAg transactivation may affect the phosphorylation state of regulatory proteins of the cell cycle. Hence, several putative functions associated with HBxAg are also compatible with its role in

carcinogenesis. A number of studies have further implicated a central role for HBxAg in the onset of PHC. HBV DNA successfully "transformed" NIH 3T3 fibroblasts in culture from a nontumorigenic cell line into one which formed tumors when injected into nude mice (325). In addition, a mouse hepatocyte cell line was transformed by HBV DNA so that the resulting transformants formed colonies instead of monolayers in soft agar and yielded tumors when injected into nude mice (147). The same mouse hepatocyte cell line could also be transformed by a fragment of HBV DNA containing only the virus enhancer and the X gene (309). It may be relevant that HBxAg trans-activates the promoters of the cellular oncogenes c-myc, c-fos, and c-jun (186). The enhanced expression of these genes early in the cell cycle (186) may explain how X stimulates hepatocellular growth in the liver. Several laboratories have constructed mice with the entire HBV genome or with the X region as the transgene, and although most attempts have not resulted in liver tumors in the transgenic progeny (6, 87, 192), one group has recently reported the development of tumors (174). One of the reasons for the discordant outcome of these studies may be

289

that HBxAg production rapidly decreased with age or was undetectable among transgenic mice that did not develop tumors, whereas it remained high in those that eventually developed PHC. Therefore, continued high levels of HBxAg expression may be important for tumorigenesis. Interestingly, HBxAg(+) transgenic mice with PHC showed no histological or biochemical evidence of liver damage (168), suggesting that chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis are not required steps in hepatocarcinogenesis. In this context, it is of interest that asymptomatic chronic human carriers, who do not have clinical or biochemical evidence of liver disease, are at elevated risk for the development of PHC, although much less so than carriers with chronic liver disease (343). Together, these results strongly suggest that the persistent expression of HBxAg is an important step in multistep hepatocarcinogenesis, although the mechanism(s) used remain to be fully elucidated. Since HBxAg may mediate trans-activation of many cellular genes through protein-protein interactions, it may significantly affect the regulation of cellular growth and differentiation. If the function of HBxAg depends on the formation of homodimers or heterodimers, the quantity of HBxAg made and the cellular localization of HBxAg during infection may be crucial determinants of the outcome of the host-virus relationship on the molecular level. For example, trans-activation occurs most readily at low concentrations of HBxAg (82). On the other hand, high concentrations of HBxAg may be necessary to form the appropriate heterodimers with tumor suppressor gene products or similar growth regulatory molecules. Further, the presence of HBxAg in the nuclei of hepatocytes in most patients with cirrhosis and dysplasia, but in only a few patients with chronic hepatitis, means that HBxAg would have access to different cellular substrates according to the type of chronic liver disease. The availability of appropriate factors during chronic infection is also related to the state of hepatocellular differentiation. Hence, the environment in which HBxAg is expressed may determine the function of this HBV gene product.

CONCLUSIONS: MODEL FOR HBV-INDUCED CARCINOGENESIS The multiple factors contributing to the appearance of PHC discussed above reflect the multistep nature of hepatocarcinogenesis (Fig. 6). This stepwise progression has been documented by the observation of discrete histological stages accompanying the changes from normal liver to PHC during chemical carcinogenesis in rats (84, 310), in transgenic mice with high levels of persistent HBxAg expression (174), and in humans with PHC (353). The important contributions can be summarized as follows. (i) HBV probably makes a genetic contribution to PHC by integration and expression of HBxAg (and/or pre-S), and the expression of such virus gene products from integrated templates is probably important for tumor initiation but not progression. This is consistent with the finding of persistent HBxAg in most carriers with progressive chronic liver disease and is also compatible with PHC cases lacking detectable HBxAg or integrated HBV DNA. (ii) The events surrounding tumor initiation are also likely to involve genetic aberrations resulting from integration of HBV DNA into multiple sites within the host genome. It may be less important where in the host genome the HBV integrates and more important that such integration events bring about genetic instability. The inability of hepatocytes to repair such anomalies yields cells

290


FEITELSON asymptomatic chronic carrer

_

_

--

resolution

HBV+

resolution

mother infection with HBV

M

w

persistent infection

/~~~~~

other HBV sources

chronicactive

hepatitis integration of HBV DNA; genetic

acute infection

* instability reso ilution

*

cirrhosis

dysplasia

_

PHC

oncogene activation; loss of suppressor growth gene(s); advantage persistent expression of HBV pre Sor X

chemical

carcinogens or HCV increased susceptibility to chemical carcinoaens or promoters; increase rate of

mutations viral replicative phase

infection

nonreplicative phase

ilnutam or 20 -50 early in childhood years FIG. 6. Summary of the factors that contribute to PHC amount HBV chronic carriers. Modified with permission from references 120 and 203.

whose states of differentiation and phenotypes are permanently altered. Such initiated cells will probably not be further selected for HBxAg expression or retention of integrated HBV DNA. (iii) Immunological responses to specific patterns of virus gene expression in infected hepatocytes probably result in the recognition and death of such cells, which may provide a regenerative stimulus to neighboring hepatocytes and/or oval (stem) cells. This regenerative stimulus favors cell proliferation over DNA repair and provides an environment which promotes the outgrowth of initiated cells into clones. The stronger the proliferative stimulus, the more likely it is that genetic mutations will accumulate and be propagated. Promotion in the context of progressive chronic liver disease may be attributed not only to the immunological responses against virus-infected cells but also to exposure to chemical promoters (Fig. 6). In selected cases of liver cancer, integration of hepadnavirus DNA near specific regulatory genes of cell growth may be central to the pathogenesis of PHC. Similarly, amplification of specific growth-regulatory genes, specific rearrangement or activation of cellular oncogenes, or loss of heterozygosity at one or more chromosomes may turn out to be a central element in understanding the pathogenesis of PHC in specific cases. It is also clear from such studies that the pathogenesis of PHC involves more than a single mechanism, and the contribution of each step to PHC may vary among HBV infected human populations. If there are many mechanisms by which multistep hepatocarcinogenesis could arise in association with HBV infection, it is important to find the steps common to these mechanisms. Identification of these common steps would be important to the scientist and clinician in attempting to understand the pathogenesis of PHC from the viewpoint of prognosis and in the construction of rational therapeutic approaches.

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Hepatitis B virus infection and primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis B virus infection and primary hepatocellular carcinoma.

Management of hepatitis B virus infection during treatment for hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis B virus antigens in human primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues.

Hepatitis B virus and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Noncirrhotic hepatocellular carcinoma: etiology and occult hepatitis B virus infection in a hepatitis B virus-endemic area.

Expression of B7-H4 and hepatitis B virus X in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Autophagy and microRNA in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Relation between aflatoxin, hepatitis-B virus, and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma and hepatitis B virus markers in Europe.

Chronic hepatitis C virus infection and pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis B virus and primary hepatocellular carcinoma: treatment of HBV carriers with Phyllanthus amarus.

Tumor factors associated with clinical outcomes in patients with hepatitis B virus infection and hepatocellular carcinoma.

MicroRNA expression profiling in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma of familial aggregation and hepatitis B virus infection.

Chemoprevention and novel therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma associated with chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

[Incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic infection with hepatitis B].

Host nucleotide polymorphism in hepatitis B virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis B virus markers and antibodies to hepatitis C virus in Japanese patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Dermatomyositis associated with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Long noncoding RNAs in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Alcohol-dysregulated microRNAs in hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis B virus genome asymmetry in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Antiviral therapies for hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatitis B virus infection in hepatocellular carcinoma tissues upregulates expression of DNA methyltransferases.