Detection of VacA gene specific for Helicobactor pylori in hepatocellular carcinoma and cholangiocarcinoma specimens of Thai patients.

In order to investigate and compare the presence of Helicobacter pylori VacA in primary liver cancer specimens (12 hepatocellular carcinoma and 6 cholangiocarcinoma) and control liver specimens (7 non-primary liver cancer) from Thai patients who underwent liver resection, H. pylori VacA gene was assayed in extracted DNA by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The selected amplicons revealed high homology compared with H. pylori VacA sequence. H. pylori VacA gene was detected in all primary liver cancer specimens and in 71% (5/7) of control liver specimens.