Antiviral and antifibrotic therapies reduce occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis B and liver fibrosis: a 144-week prospective cohort study / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE@#To compare the efficacy and safety of different antiviral and antifibrotic regimens in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and hepatic fibrosis and the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) associated with these therapies.@*METHODS@#A total of 840 patients with CHB and concurrent hepatic fibrosis, who received antiviral therapy in Nanfang Hospital between June, 2010 and June, 2018, were enrolled in this follow-up cohort study. The patients were assigned to 3 cohorts matched for gender, age (difference≤5 years), HBeAg status and liver stiffness measurement (LSM) for treatment with one of the 3 antiviral drugs, namely entecavir, tenofovir dipivoxil and adefovir dipivoxil; each cohort was divided into 2 groups, with one of the groups having a combined treatment with Fufang Biejiaruangan tablet. The cumulative negative conversion rate of HBV DNA, normalization rate of ALT, hepatic fibrosis regression and the incidence of HCC were compared among the 3 cohorts and across the 6 groups at 144 weeks.@*RESULTS@#A total of 749 patients were available to follow-up at 144 weeks. Compared with the baseline data, the cumulative negative conversion rate of HBV DNA increased gradually and the abnormal rate of ALT decreased significantly over time during the treatment in all the 6 groups (all < 0.001). Compared with the any of the antiviral drugs used alone, the combined treatments all resulted in significantly better antifibrotic effects (χ=11.345, χ=10.160, χ=6.358; all < 0.05). At 144 weeks, the incidence of HCC were 2.2%, 1.7%, 1.7% and 3.3% in enecavir group, enecavir with Biejiaruangan tablet group, adefovir group, and adefovir with Biejiaruangan tablet group, respectively, showing no significant difference between the two cohorts (4 groups; χ=6.813, =0.138). None of the patients in the 2 groups with tenofovir treatment had HCC by the end of the observation.@*CONCLUSIONS@#Antiviral therapy combined with antifibrotic therapy can effectively reverse hepatic fibrosis and reduce the incidence of HCC in patients with CHB; among the 3 antiviral drugs, tenofovir dipivoxil can be a better option for reducing the incidence of HCC in these patients.