Interferon-based treatment is superior to nucleos(t)ide analog in reducing HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma for chronic hepatitis B patients at high risk. (3rd October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ren, Peipei; Cao, Zhujun; Mo, Ruidong; Liu, Yuhan; Chen, Lichang; Li, Ziqiang; Zhou, Tianhui; Lu, Jie; Liu, Yunye; Guo, Qing; Chen, Rong; Zhou, Huijuan; Xiang, Xiaogang; Cai, Wei; Wang, Hui; Bao, Shisan; Xu, Yumin; Gui, Honglian; Xie, Qing
• Is Part Of: Expert opinion on biological therapy. Volume 18:Number 10(2018)
• Page Start: 1085
• Page End: 1094
• Publication Date: 2018-10-03
• Subjects: Chronic hepatitis B -- hepatocellular carcinoma -- interferon -- nucleos(t)ide analogs; Gene therapy -- Periodicals; Protein drugs -- Periodicals; Peptide drugs -- Periodicals; Immunotherapy -- Periodicals; Drug delivery systems -- Periodicals; 615.5
• DOI: 10.1080/14712598.2018.1518423
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1471-2598

Abstract

ABSTRACT: Background : The effect of nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) versus interferon (IFN) on the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is controversial. We assessed whether antiviral strategy affected HCC development in CHB patients at different HCC risks. Methods : 1112 CHB patients with antiviral therapy were included in this retrospective study. Patients treated with NAs only were classified into NAs group ( n = 682) while those received IFN treatment with or without NAs were defined as IFN group ( n = 430). Propensity score matching (PSM) was applied to minimize baseline differences. Results : Totally, 31 patients developed HCC during follow-up (median 5.41 years). The cumulative HCC incidence at 10 years was significantly lower in the IFN group than NAs group (2.7% vs 8.0%, p < 0.001). Similar results were obtained in the PSM-cohort. Patients with IFN-based treatment were less likely to develop HCC than those with NAs (Hazard ratio = 0.15; 95% CI 0.04–0.66; p = 0.012). Subgroup analyses demonstrated that this superiority of IFN in reducing HCC development was obvious in patients at high- but not low-risk of HCC. Conclusions : Reduction of HCC development was more significant in CHB patients at higher HCC risk with IFN-based therapy than NAs treatment.