Changes of serum HBV DNA levels in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma before and after transcatheter arterial chemoebolization

Objective To study the change of serum HBV DNA level in HBV positive hepatocellular carcinoma（HCC） patients before and after transcatheter arterial chemoebolization（TACE） and its clinical significance. Methods Serum HBV DNA levels were measured in 44 HBV positive HCC patients before and after TACE by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR. Results The serum HBV DNA level（Log10 copies/ml） was significantly lower in all patients after TACE than before TACE（P＜0.05）.Of the 32 patients（72.7%） with their serum HBV DNA level（Log10 copies/ml） decreased one month after TACE,17（38.6%） had their serum level of HBV DNA level decreased to lower than 500 copies/ml,and 21 had no response to TACE. Conclusion Serum of HBV DNA level can be used as a marker of the efficacy of TACE in positive HBV DNA HCC patients.