An iminunohistochemical study on 63 hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) was performed for the demonstration of α1-antitrypsin (AAT), α-fetoprotein (AFP) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) antigens. AAT and AFP were also investigated in 54 cases of cirrhosis not associated with HCC. AAT was frequently expressed both in HCC (82.5%) and in cirrhosis (53.7%), whereas AFP was present in 41.2% of HCC and never detected in cirrhosis used as controls. These findings suggest that AFP is the more specific antigen for use as a marker of malignant cellular transformation. The HBsAg-positivity in 31.7% of HCC supports the hypothesis of a close link between virus B infection and the tumor.
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