Hepatitis B virus (HBV)
infection is the major risk factor in the pathogenesis of
hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Patients who are positive for
hepatitis B early
antigen (
HBeAg) have active
liver disease. The present study aimed to evaluate the possible role of
HBeAg in patients with resectable HCC. A series of 249 HCC patients with complete preoperative
hepatitis marker who had undergone potentially curative resection were enrolled. Patients with hepatitis C virus
infection were excluded. Of these patients, 27 were positive for
hepatitis B surface antigen (
HBsAg) and
HBeAg (group I), 171 were positive for
HBsAg and negative for
HBeAg (group II), and 51 were negative for
hepatitis B markers (group III). The clinicopathologic features and postoperative survivals were compared among the three groups. The prevalence of
HBeAg was 10.8%. Group I patients were significantly younger and had worse liver function, smaller
tumors, and a higher incidence of
liver cirrhosis and
chronic active hepatitis than those in groups II and III. No increase in
tumor invasiveness was noted in group I patients. The operative morbidity, mortality, and postresection survival were comparable among the three groups. Our findings indicated that
HBeAg positivity is not a negative factor for resection in HCC patients and has no significant influence on postresection survival.