A Comparative Study on the Prevalence of HCC Seromarkers among Tribal and Coastal Population

An extensive study on the prevalence of seromarkers (HBsAg and AFP) of hepatocellular carcinoma among two low socio-economic groups of Karurnanthurai tribes and Kanyakurnari coastal populations were carried out. The results obtained suggest that the mean HBsAg value of tribal was more than that of the coastal population. The mean AFP of elevated and normal cases was found to be invariably significant (P 0.01) over the two areas. Coastal patients tended to be significantly older than the tribal patients (P 0.005, Wilcoxon rank sum test). All two racial/geographic regions showed a preponderance of male patients but this tendency was significantly more marked (P 0.05) in the tribal group than in the coastal populations. Liquor habit and lack of personal hygienic practices were associated with the prevalence of HBsAg and AFP in both the areas. Surprisingly, a positive association has been found between the consumption of marine foods and reduced risk of HCC. Thus, the reduced risk ofHCC among the coastal populations probably the development of immunity against HBV due to the dietary pattern of marine food consumption by coastal population.