Third, though occult hepatitis B infection and HBeAg seroconversion are associated with disease progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, authors could only exclude HBs Ag-positive subjects in exclusion of our study population as there were limited data about other markers of HBV such as HBV DNA, HBe Ag, and anti-HBe. This evidence concerns the gene HBE1 and hepatocellular carcinoma.