Effect of TT Virus Infection on Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development: Results of a Euro‐Asian Survey

Abstract : A small percentage of persons with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) lack identifiable causes of liver pathology. The single-stranded DNA virus, TT virus (TTV), has been found in persons with acute and chronic liver injury. Nested polymerase chain reaction was used to search for both TTV and parvoviruses in 293 HCC samples from Asia and Europe. TTV was found in >30% of Chinese and Italian samples but in only 13% of French samples. No clinicopathologic differences were found between TTV-positive and -negative populations. A significant association was found between TTV infection and hepatitis B virus (P<.01) and herpesviruses (P<.02) in HCC patients, suggesting that factors promoting these infections are associated with enhanced TTV positivity. Parvovirus B19 and adeno-associated virus were found in only 7.5% of the tumors. Taken together, these data suggest that TTV infection is unlikely to be associated with the induction or acceleration of the hepatocarcinogenic process in humans.