Sex-related Differences in DNA Copy Number Alterations in Hepatitis B Virus-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Background: Males have a higher prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than females in general,but the reasons for the sex disparity are still obscure. DNA copy number alteration (CNA) is a major featureof solid tumors including HCC, but whether CNA plays a role in sex-related differences in HCC developmenthas never been evaluated.
Methods: High-resolution array comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) was usedto examine 17 female and 46 male HCC patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in Shanghai,China. Two-tailed Fisher’s exact or χ2 tests was used to compare CNAs between females and males.
Results:The overall frequencies and patterns of CNAs in female and male cases were similar. However, female HCCtumors presented more copy number gains compared to those in males on 1q21.3-q22 (76.5% vs. 37.0%, P =0.009), 11q11 (35.3% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.0002) and 19q13.31-q13.32 (23.5% vs. 0.0%, P = 0.004), and loss on 16p11.2(35.3% vs. 6.5%, P = 0.009). Relative to females, male cases had greater copy number loss on 11q11 (63.0% vs.17.6%, P = 0.002). Further analyses showed that 11q11 gain correlated with 19q13.31-q13.32 gain (P = 0.042),11q11 loss (P = 0.011) and 16p11.2 loss (P = 0.033), while 1q21.3-q22 gain correlated with 19q13.31-q13.32 gain(P = 0.046).
Conclusions: These findings suggest that CNAs may play a role in sex-related differences in HBVassociatedHCC development.