Inhibition of peripheral blood lymphocyte apoptosis by soluble fas ligand in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

We monitored apoptosis of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) obtained from patients with various degrees of chronic viral hepatitis, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in vitro and quantitated the serum levels of soluble Fas ligand (FasL) by ELISA. There was no difference in mean percent PBL mortality. However, in HCC patients, the variance was significantly high (P<0.05), and, unexpectedly, a negative association was found between the PBL mortality and the serum soluble FasL levels (P=0.035). These results suggest the inhibitory effect of serum soluble FasL on apoptosis of PBL, which may explain the induction of immunological abnormalities with the development of HCC.