Abstract: Objective To investigate the status and characteristics of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in cancer patients. Methods The detection results of the HBV serum markers of 92,031 patients diagnosed with cancer in Guangxi Medical University Cancer Hospital from July 26, 2017 to September 18, 2023 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were grouped into the liver cancer (LC) group and the non⁃liver cancer (non⁃LC) group, and the proportion of patients with uninfected (all negative or Anti⁃HBs positive), ordinary infected (except for Anti⁃HBs, any test positive) and occult hepatitis B virus infection (OBI; HBsAg negative, serum or liver tissue HBV DNA positive) were compared and analyzed statistically. Results The total HBV infection rate of 92,031 cancer patients was 73.75% (67,876/92,031), among which the total HBV infection rate of patients with liver cancer was 97.65% (8,922/9,137), and that of patients without liver cancer was 71.12% (58,954/82,894). The total HBV infection rate in the LC group was significantly higher than that in the non⁃LC group (all P<0.001). The positive rates of HBsAg, HBeAg, Anti⁃HBe and Anti⁃HBc in the LC group were significantly higher than those in the non⁃LC group (all P<0.001), whereas the positive rate of Anti⁃HBs in the LC group was lower than that in the non⁃LC group (P<0.001). There were 20 and 27 combination patterns of serum markers in the LC group and the non⁃LC group, respectively, among which the constituent ratios of 14 patterns were significantly different between the two groups (all P<0.001). There were 7 combination patterns of OBI serum in both groups, and the constituent ratios of 5 patterns were statistically different between the two groups (all P<0.05). Conclusions HBV infection status and serological combination patterns of cancer patients are complex, and distinguishing between liver cancer and non⁃liver cancer for HBV infection statistics is more conducive to the evaluation of HBV infection in cancer patients.

Key words: Cancer, Liver cancer, Hepatitis B virus infection, Hepatitis B virus serums markers, Occult hepatitis B virus infection