Cumulative incidence and risk factors for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis B who achieved sustained disappearance of viremia by nucleos(t)ide analog treatment.

AIM

Nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy has been reported to reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, some patients who achieve hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA disappearance from serum by NA develop HCC. In this study, we investigated the cumulative incidence and risk factors for HCC in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who achieved sustained disappearance of viremia by NA treatment.

METHODS

A total of 133 CHB patients (median age, 51 years; 79 men [59%]; 28 with cirrhosis [21%]) who received NA therapy and achieved HBV-DNA disappearance from serum were analyzed retrospectively. We evaluated the cumulative incidence of HCC and risk factors associated with HCC based on data collected at the time of HBV-DNA disappearance.

RESULTS

Thirteen patients developed HCC during the follow-up period. The 1-, 3-, and 5-year cumulative incidence of HCC was 0.0%, 7.8%, and 11.1%, respectively. In multivariate analysis, advanced age (hazard ratio [HR], 4.601; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.220-17.351; P = 0.024), liver cirrhosis (HR, 5.563; 95% CI, 1.438-21.519; P = 0.013), and higher HBV core-related antigen (HBcrAg) levels (HR, 13.532; 95% CI, 1.683-108.815; P = 0.014) at the time of HBV-DNA disappearance were significantly associated with the development of HCC.

CONCLUSION

Our findings indicate the importance of continuous HCC surveillance especially in patients with advanced age, cirrhosis, and/or higher serum levels of HBcrAg, even if they achieve HBV-DNA disappearance.