Activation of cellular oncogenes and inactivation of anti-oncogenes have been postulated as important mechanisms during hepatocarcinogenesis. This study was conducted to detect abnormal levels of several proto-oncogenes (c-jun, c-fos, c-H-ras) and of the p53 and the alpha-fetoprotein gene in the liver during cirrhosis, a pathological process which predisposes to the development of hepatocarcinoma. Liver tissue from 11 patients with cirrhosis of different etiologies, and seven histologically normal liver fragments taken at the periphery of benign liver tumors of metastases were studied. Transcripts of the various oncogenes and of the alpha-fetoprotein gene were detected by in situ hybridization, and the p53 protein was revealed by immunocytochemistry. No overexpression of any of the mRNA tested or of the p53 protein was found in histologically normal liver in contact with benign or metastatic tumors. In contrast, 10 of the 11 specimens with cirrhosis (90.9%) displayed abnormally high levels of c-H-ras transcripts. Five samples with cirrhosis revealed a moderate increase in the level of c-fos mRNA. Only one case and two cases, respectively, exhibited increased levels of c-jun and alpha-fetoprotein mRNA. No cases were positive for the p53 antigen. Liver-cell proliferation, as assessed by immunocytochemistry with the Ki 67 monoclonal antibody, was low in both the group with cirrhosis and the control groups (0.49% and 0.55% positive cells, respectively). These data demonstrate that activation of c-H-ras mRNA is an almost constant finding in hepatocytes of livers with cirrhosis. This gene overexpression is not linked to hepatocellular proliferation.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)