Abstract

Chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major global health issue, affecting around 296 million people worldwide. It increases the risk of developing liver cancer. The Hepatitis B virus X gene in the HBV genome is an important regulator and oncogene, essential for chronic HBV infection and liver cancer progression. Understanding its function will help in developing targeted therapies for HBVrelated liver cancer. Determining the incidence of HCC with different genotypes and HBx mutations is necessary. In this review, the Hepatitis B virus X gene is signified and implicated as the principal role in causing HCC. This review aims to evaluate the significance of Hepatitis B virus X to that of other HBV genes. HBV gene mutations such as P, S, and C are responsible for viral replication, antigen expression, and a disrupted immune response, respectively. Compared to other genes, the X gene of the hepatitis virus has the worst clinical results that significantly lead to Hepatocellular carcinoma. Most previous research has concluded that HBx significantly leads to chronic HBV infection. Therefore, the HBV risk factors, prevalence, and HBx mutations are essential in spreading the chronic infection. Further studies on the HBx gene is still required to explore in countries like Pakistan in terms of leading to disease like hepatocellular carcinoma.

Keywords: Hepatitis B virus; Hepatocellular carcinoma; HBx protein; Pakistan