Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a global public health problem. The WHO estimates that more than 2 billion people have been infected with HBV virus at some point in their lives and 350 million people across the world continue to carry chronic HBV infection, of whom almost one million die annually from HBV-related liver disease.1 HBV is considered to be the cause of 60% of cases of primary liver cancer in the world and the most common carcinogen after cigarette smoking.2 Although the true prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Iran is unknown, it is not an uncommon malignancy; 80% of HCC cases in Iran are positive for at least one of the markers of HBV, and this virus appears to be the most common cause of HCC in Iran