Intrahepatic distribution of hepatitis B virus antigens in patients with and without hepatocellular carcinoma

Table 4 Features of hepatocellular carcinoma patients based on the antiviral therapy status

Variables	HCC group on anti-viral therapy (n = 9)	HCC group on no therapy (n = 4)
Mean age ± SD, yr	53.2 ± 8.5	46.5 ± 20.5
Male: female	7:2	2:2
HBeAg negative	8/9	4/4
Undetectable HBV DNA	8/9	0/4
Cirrhosis	4/9	0/4
Invasive HCC	3/9	4/4
Tumor:
Well differentiation	6/9	1/4
Moderate differentiation	3/9	3/4
Intrahepatic HBcAg staining
(+) Only in tumor tissues	4/9	1/4
(+) Only in non-tumor tissues	3/9	1/4
(+) Both in tumor and non-tumor tissues	2/9	2/4
Intrahepatic HBsAg staining
(+) Only in tumor tissues	1/9	0/4
(+) Only in non-tumor tissues	3/9	2/4
(+) Both in tumor and non-tumor tissues	3/9	1/4

SD: Standard deviation; HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HBsAg: Hepatitis B surface antigen; HBcAg: Hepatitis B core antigen; HBeAg: Hepatitis B envelop antigen.