Abstract
Southern Guangxi, China has one of the highest incidences of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the world. Serum samples collected from subjects of an earlier case-control study (39 cases, 41 controls) and from a random sampling of a residential male cohort (n = 100) were tested for antibodies for the hepatitis C virus (anti-HCV) using ELISA version 2.0 with confirmation by RIBA version 2.0. Only one of 141 (0.7%, upper 95% confidence limit, 3.2%) control subjects and none of 39 (upper 95% confidence limit, 6.07%) HCC cases tested positive for anti-HCV. Our results indicate that hepatitis C infection is not an important environmental determinant of HCC risk in this hyperendemic region.