Integration of XXXX -DNA may not be a prerequisite for the maintenance of the state of malignant transformation. An analysis of 110 liver biopsies.

@entity1 @entity97 @entity157 @entity409
Hundred and ten liver biopsy specimens from various parts of the world were examined for episomal and integrated @entity97 -DNA sequences. In 54 @entity1 with HBsAg chronic @entity409 episomal @entity97 -DNA was found in 83% of HBeAg-positive @entity1 , compared to only 22% of patients with anti-HBe. Furthermore episomal @entity97 -DNA in the latter predominated among the Asians. Integrated @entity97 -DNA was found only in 5.5% of HBeAg-positive @entity1 but in 16.5% of patients with anti-HBe. In 28 HBsAg-positive @entity1 with @entity157 , episomal @entity97 -DNA was found in 50% of HBeAg-positive @entity1 but in only 11% of anti-HBe @entity1 . Conversely integrated sequences were less common (25%) in HBe-Ag-positive @entity1 than in anti-HBe @entity1 (50%), giving an overall incidence of integration in this group of 45%. No episomal, and only one case of integrated sequences of @entity97 -DNA, could be detected among 10 @entity1 with @entity157 . In addition neither episomal nor integrated @entity97 -DNA could be detected in 18 @entity1 with non- @entity97 -related @entity409 . Our data suggests that stable integration of @entity97 -DNA into the host's genome is not necessarily a prerequisite for the maintenance of the state of malignant transformation but may be necessary for its initiation. Alternatively, the detection of integrated @entity97 -DNA may represent a 'snap shot' of a random integration event amplified by clonal expansion promoted by other factors.
