Hi @Ccheng8346, I am glad your tumor got found relatively early and was able to be resected. I wish you all the luck with remission.
Re: your question, integrations happen across the genome (including the telomeres), but perhaps the studies you were reading were referring to integration upstream of telomerase, which is the gene that maintains the telomeres. When you activate telomerase (e.g., through turning up the proto-oncogene pathway that @john.tavis describes), then you allow the cell to undergo a lot more mitosis than normal, which overcomes one barrier to cancer. This has been described in many liver cancers associated with HBV infection.
Hope this helps,
Thomas
Thomas,
Do you think my age 77 yrs is a factor that cause the development of HCC as our immune system gets weaken and unable to stop cancer cells to develop . Perhaps I gained so much weight ( 15 yrs ago I also gained so much wait my liver developed cirrhosis).
Just curious why HCC develop. HVB integrates into telomere and stay there for years without developing HCC . Could it be trigger by mRNA ( COVID vaccine ( just speculations)
What’s your take.
Thanks thomas
Carlos
dear dr. @john.tavis ,
Reading your answers, I had a question that I would be very grateful if you could clarify:
Can the type of virus influence the appearance of hcc? I ask this because I have a negative Hbeag “mutant virus”. In this type of virus, for example, could this mutation be a factor in enhancing the appearance of hcc?
Is there any study with this object
Dear @Ccheng8346,
Development of cancer is a very complex process that requires multiple changes to the cell’s genome. Even HBV cannot do it entirely by itself. HBV pushes a cell towards cancer, but the wide range of your body’s mechanisms to control cell division and to kill cancer cells before they can start expanding are too much for it to overcome alone. Therefore, almost all cancers, including those induced by HBV, include other factors that promote cancer and help get past all the protective mechanisms. For example, the background radiation that is everywhere in the world can by chance cause a mutation in a cell, or the cell could make a random mistake in its DNA when the cell divides, or an environmental toxin could help make reactive oxygen species that mutate the DNA, etc., are all known to contribute to cancer development. In short, cancer development almost always has a factor of random chance in it. HBV lowers the threshold to developing cancer, making it easier for the random effects to finish the job. That’s why cells can have HBV integrations in them for decades without becoming cancer and then suddenly transform. I know this is not a comfortable thing to contemplate, but it is the nature of oncogenesis.
John.
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Dear @La.sciamachie,
I’m not a huge expert in this area, but I’ll share what I know.
Yes, the type of HBV can influence cancer, but figuring out how and which type of virus does it is a surprisingly difficult thing to do because cancer is influenced by so many things (a person’s genetics, their lifestyle, food types, random chance, etc…). The best available data say that genotype C (and I think the minor genotype H) are more oncogenic than the other genotypes, but this is a matter of degree, not a yes/no situation.
I’m not familiar with the literature on HBe status and cancer because that’s not what I study. However, my guess is that being HBe negative reduces risk of cancer. My rationale (and it may be wrong) is that because liver inflammation is less and viral replication is lower in HBe negative people, the oncogenic stimuli from the steady accumulation of integrated HBV DNAs and the oncogenic effects of chronic inflammation would be lower. Perhaps someone with more familiarity with this literature could shed more light on this question.
John.
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Thank you John , I know there are many factors . I hope there won’t be re occurrence of my HCC. Just need to do the best I can and wait what happen
. Thanks you very much
Carlos
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Thank you very much for your explanations and attention, @john.tavis . they are very valuable to me.
God continue to bless you.
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