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Study of interferon regulatory factor-1 in patients with hepatitis C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

Aim To investigate the expression of serum interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and patient with chronic hepatitis C and to determine its efficacy in early detection of HCC. Background Infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV) frequently results in a persistent infection, suggesting that it has evolved efficient mechanism(s) for blocking the host cell's innate antiviral response. Patients and methods This a case–control study that included 70 patients with HCV infection, with and without HCC, as well as 15 apparently healthy age-matched and sex-matched patients. The studied individuals were divided into three groups. Group 1 consisted of 15 individuals as control controls. There were seven males and eight females, with ages ranged from 42 to 78 years. Group 2 consisted of 35 patients with chronic HCV without HCC. There were 19 males and 16 females, with ages ranged from 43 to 80 years. Group 3 consisted of 35 patients with chronic hepatitis C-related HCC. Results Mean IRF-1 level was 0.58 ± 0.38 × 109/μl in HCC group, in cirrhotic group was 7.48 ± 4.92 × 109/μl, and in control group was 134.93 ± 89.27 × 109/μl, so the mean IRF-1 level in HCC group was highly significant lower than cirrhotic group (P3 > 0.001), the mean IRF-1 level in HCC group was highly significant lower than control group (P2 > 0.001), and the mean IRF-1 level in cirrhotic group was highly significant lower than control group (P1 > 0.001). Conclusions The expression of IRF-1 is suppressed in HCC. IRF-1 is considered to be an important tumor-suppressor gene in human malignancies, including HCC.