HBV 相关性肝细胞癌抑癌基因高甲基化现象及其机制的研究进展

肝细胞癌是临床上最常见的恶性肿瘤之一，肝细胞癌的发生与许多因素有关，其中的一个重要因素就是乙肝病毒感染。乙肝病毒感染是一个重大的世界性问题，HBV导致肝癌发生的过程还不明确，但是长期乙肝病毒携带与肝细胞癌的发生有重大的关系。HBV极大的促进了慢性肝炎向肝细胞癌的发展过程，但其致癌作用具体机制现在仍然存在争议。乙肝病毒（HBV）相关性肝细胞癌中存在抑癌基因高甲基化现象，在HBV相关性肝细胞癌的发生、发展、转移过程中起到重要作用。抑癌基因高甲基化现象具有明显的特异性，与HBV感染密切相关，并且通过DNA甲基转移酶1 维持，该现象为HBV相关性肝细胞癌的诊断和治疗提供了新的方法。为了早期诊断、风险评估和预防治疗，需要进一步的找到和理解HBV导致肝细胞癌的分子机制。针对HBV相关性肝细胞癌，可以通过抑癌基因甲基化来早期诊断。药物沉默抑癌基因的高甲基化，重新表达抑癌基因，可能会成为未来的一个研究方向。 

Hypermethylation of Tumor Suppressor Gene in HBV-associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Its Mechanism

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most commonly occurring malignant tumors. The incidence of hepa-tocellular carcinoma is related with many factors, of which infection of hepatitis-B virus (HBV) is a key factor. This infection has already become a major worldwide problem, but the process leading to liver cancer remains unclear. The long-term car-rying HBV has a significant relationship with the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma. HBV greatly promotes the devel -opment of hepatocellular carcinoma resulting from chronic hepatitis, but its specific mechanism of carcinogenesis is still controversial. Hypermethylation of the tumor suppressor gene was found to play an important role in the incidence, devel-opment and metastasis of the HBV- associated hepatocellular carcinoma. The hypermethylation of the tumor suppressor gene has an obvious specificity: it is closely related to the hepatitis B viral infection, and is maintained by DNA methyl-trans-ferase 1. This phenomenon supplies new methods for diagnosis and treatment of the HBV-associated hepatocellular carci -noma. For early diagnosis, risk assessment and preventive treatment of the carcinoma, further discovery and understand-ing of the molecular mechanisms of HBV leading to the hepatocellular carcinoma is extremely necessary. Methylation of tu -mor suppressor gene can be used for early diagnosis of HBV-associated hepatocellular carcinoma. Hypermethylation of tu-mor suppressor gene silencing, by drugs which re-express the antioncogene, may become a research direction in the fu-ture.