ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the importance of hepatitis B virus ( HBV ) infection in the patho-genesis of cholangiocarcinoma ( CC) and further clarify the correlation between the occurrence of intrahepatic and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma .Methods HBV protein and gene of 52 formalin fixed,paraffin embedded tis-sues with CC were detected by immunohistochemistry and nest PCR .Results Hepatitis B virus X gene was de-tectable in 33.3%(7/21)of 21 intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cases .Hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg)was detectable in 21.7%(5/21)and hepatitis B core antigen(HBcAg)was detectable in 19.0%(4/21)of 21 intrahe-patic cholangiocarcinoma cases .In contrast,no HBsAg,HBcAg and hepatitis B virus X gene were detected in any of the 31 extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma cases .Conclusion HBV infection is a significant risk factor for intra-hepatic cholangiocarcinoma ,but not for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma ,in Northeast of China .The integration of HBV gene may be involved in the carcinogenesis of intrahepatic bile duct epithelial cells .