GPT and hepatocellular carcinoma: Compared with participants who had serum HBV DNA of < 60 IU/mL, there was an independent dose-dependent relationship between elevated serum HBV DNA levels of ≥ 2000 IU/mL and HCC development adjusted for hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) status, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level and presence of cirrhosis; the adjusted hazard ratio (HR) ranged from 2.3 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.1–4.9) in patients with serum HBV DNA of ≥ 2000 to < 20,000 IU/mL, to 6.1 (95% CI 2.9–12.7) in patients who had serum HBV DNA ≥ 200,000 IU/mL.