PPIB and hepatocellular carcinoma: None of the patients with HCC were positive for hepatitis B s antigen or hepatitis C antibody.3 However, in a previous study, 16% of patients with HCC showed evidence of the presence of hepatitis B and C when investigated for the evidence of molecular markers for hepatitis B deoxyribonucleic acid and hepatitis C ribonucleic acid respectively.19 Data from our study suggest that HCC in cryptogenic cirrhosis may be behaving differently to other types of HCC.