Hepatic steatosis as a possible risk factor for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma after eradication of hepatitis C virus with antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C

Figure 2 Amplification of HCV-RNA in liver tissues in cases 1, 2 and 4. HCV was detected in all liver tissues at the pre-IFN therapy. NC: Without template cDNA, gave no distinct band. By contrast, HCV was demonstrated in neither HCC nor non-HCC tissue in cases 1 and 2 even after 3 cycles of RT-PCR. In case 4, in whom liver tissue was obtained after IFN therapy with percutaneous biopsy, HCV was not found either. β-actin was well amplified in these post-IFN specimens, demonstrating that total RNA had not been degraded. NC: Negative control.