Alternative Surveillance Improves Outcomes by Detecting Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Current guidelines recommend biannual ultrasound for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surveillance in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. However, computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may be used when ultrasound is inadequate. The clinical impact of these alternative modalities remains unclear.

METHODS

CHB patients undergoing regular HCC surveillance were classified into two groups: ultrasound-only and alternative surveillance (CT/MRI). Patients were stratified into high- and low-risk groups using the Risk Estimation for HCC in CHB (REACH-B) score. Outcomes included 10-year overall survival (OS), HCC tumor size, Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage at diagnosis, and OS after HCC diagnosis. Propensity score matching was applied to balance baseline characteristics.

RESULTS

A total of 2,024 patients were included after propensity score matching to ensure balanced baseline characteristics, with 1,012 patients in each group. OS was similar (ultrasound-only 96.0% vs alternative 96.8%; p=0.379). HCC occurred in 66 patients in each group. Alternative surveillance detected smaller HCC tumors (1.6 cm vs 2.1 cm; p<0.001) and more BCLC stage 0 cases (alternative 71.2% vs ultrasound-only 42.4%; p=0.003). The OS after HCC diagnosis was higher with alternative surveillance (83.0% vs 67.0%; p=0.025). In high-risk patients (n=970), alternative surveillance increased the OS (97.3% vs 93.6%; p=0.029) and the OS after HCC diagnosis (83.0% vs 60.6%; p=0.010). No significant differences were observed in low-risk patients.

CONCLUSIONS

CT/MRI-based alternative surveillance led to earlier HCC detection and improved post-diagnosis survival, particularly in high-risk CHB patients, supporting its potential role as an alternative to ultrasound in selected populations.