Relationship between Il28b Gene Polymorphisms and the Risk of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Development within Vietnamese Hepatitis B Virus Carriers

IL28B's SNPs are considered the most important host factors predicting the success of Peg-INF alpha/ribavirin based regimens against Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. However, the associations of HBV mediated etiologies have not been well documented. This study investigated the relationship between the three most clinically relevant IL28B SNPs (rs8099917, rs12980275, and rs12979860) with the risk of HBV/HCV infection and HCC development within Vietnamese HBV carriers. By using kinetics and allele specifi c real-time PCR, the study demonstrated holders of the T/G allele at SNP rs8099917 were less susceptible to HBV/HCV infection. Notably, HBV carriers with the SNP rs8099917 T/G allele were at lower risk of being transformed into HCC. However, because of a small sample size, statistical analysis did not reach significance to demonstrate an association between frequencies of IL28B SNPs and HBV mediated HCC development, even though only the minor allele carriers (either 4 G/G cases of rs8099917 or one T/T case of rs12979860) were recorded in the HCC group.