aMAP score prediction of hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence and incidence-free rate after a sustained virologic response in chronic hepatitis C.

AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can still occur in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients who have achieved a sustained virologic response (SVR), which remains an important clinical issue in the direct-acting antivirals era. The current study investigated the clinical utility of the aMAP score (consisting of age, male, albumin-bilirubin, and platelets) for predicting HCC occurrence in HCV patients achieving an SVR by direct-acting antivirals. METHODS: A total of 1113 HCV patients without HCC history, all of whom achieved an SVR, were enrolled for clinical comparisons. RESULTS: Hepatocellular carcinoma was recorded in 50 patients during a median follow-up period of 3.7 years. The aMAP score was significantly higher in the HCC occurrence group than in the HCC-free group (53 vs. 47, p < 0.001). According to risk stratification based on aMAP score, the cumulative incidence of HCC occurrence for the low-, medium-, and high-risk groups was 0.14%, 4.49%, and 9.89%, respectively, at 1 year and 1.56%, 6.87%, and 16.17%, respectively, at 3 years (low vs. medium, low vs. high, and medium vs. high: all p < 0.01). Cox proportional hazard analysis confirmed aMAP ≥ 50 (hazard ratio [HR]: 2.78, p = 0.014), age≥ 70 years (HR: 2.41, p = 0.028), ALT ≥ 17 U/L (HR: 2.14, p < 0.001), and AFP ≥ 10 ng/mL (HR: 2.89, p = 0.005) as independent risk factors of HCC occurrence. Interestingly, all but one patient (99.5%) with aMAP less than 40 was HCC-free following an SVR. CONCLUSION: The aMAP score could have clinical utility for predicting HCC occurrence in HCV patients achieving an SVR.

Effectiveness of Glecaprevir/Pibrentasvir for Hepatitis C: Real-World Experience and Clinical Features of Retreatment Cases.

Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir (G/P) are direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) that achieve a high sustained virological response (SVR) rate for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We investigated G/P effectiveness for HCV patients based on real-world experience and the clinical features of retreatment cases. HCV patients (n = 182) were compared for clinical features and outcomes between first treatment (n = 159) and retreatment (n = 23) G/P groups. Overall, 77 patients (42.3%) were male, the median age was 68 years, and 86/66/1/4 cases had genotype 1/2/1+2/3, respectively. An SVR was achieved in 97.8% (178/182) of cases by intention-to-treat analysis and 99.4% (178/179) of cases by per-protocol analysis. There were no remarkable differences between the first treatment and retreatment groups for male (42.8% vs. 39.1%, p = 0.70), median age (68 vs. 68 years, p = 0.36), prior hepatocellular carcinoma (5.8% vs. 8.7%, p = 0.59), or the fibrosis markers AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) (0.5 vs. 0.5, p = 0.80) and fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) index (2.2 vs. 2.6, p = 0.59). The retreatment group had a significantly more frequent history of interferon treatment (12.3% vs. 52.2%, p < 0.01) and the Y93H mutation (25.0% vs. 64.7%, p = 0.02). The number of retreatment patients who had experienced 3, 2, and 1 DAA treatment failures was 1, 3, and 19, respectively, all of whom ultimately achieved an SVR by G/P treatment. In conclusion, G/P was effective and safe for both HCV first treatment and retreatment cases despite the retreatment group having specific resistance mutations for other prior DAAs. As G/P treatment failure has been reported for P32 deletions, clinicians should consider resistance mutations during DAA selection.

Past history of hepatocellular carcinoma is an independent risk factor of treatment failure in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection receiving direct-acting antivirals.

Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment can achieve a high sustained virological response (SVR) rate in patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection regardless of a history of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC [+]). We examined 838 patients (370 men, median age: 69 years) who were treated with DAAs for comparisons of clinical findings between 79 HCC (+) (9.4%) and 759 HCC (-) (90.6%) patients and associations with treatment outcome. Male frequency was significantly higher in the HCC (+) group (60.8% vs 42.4%, P = 0.006). There were significant differences between the HCC (+) and HCC (-) groups for platelet count (115 vs 152 ×109 /L, P < 0.001), baseline alpha fetoprotein (AFP) (9.9 vs 4.5 ng/mL, P < 0.001) and the established fibrosis markers of FIB-4 index (4.7 vs 3.0, P < 0.001), AST-to-platelet ratio index (APRI) (1.1 vs 0.7, P = 0.009), M2BPGi (3.80 vs 1.78 COI, P < 0.001) and autotaxin (1.91 vs 1.50 mg/L, P < 0.001). The overall SVR rate was 94.7% and significantly lower in the HCC (+) group (87.3 vs 95.5%, P = 0.001). Multivariate analysis revealed that a history of HCC was independently associated with DAA treatment failure (odds ratio: 3.56, 95% confidence interval: 1.32-9.57, P = 0.01). In conclusion, patients with chronic HCV infection and prior HCC tended to exhibit more advanced disease progression at DAA commencement. HCC (+) status at the initiation of DAAs was significantly associated with adverse therapeutic outcomes. DAA treatment for HCV should therefore be started as early as possible, especially before complicating HCC.

[A successful treatment of percutaneous radio frequency ablation for advanced thyroid cancer].

The patient was a 69-year-old woman. She received chemotherapy and radiation for thyroid tumor (undifferentiated cancer) following an operation in 1998. The chemotherapy was regularly repeated for relapse. The tumor increased gradually and came to cause dysphagia. She initially rejected nutritional management that depends on intravenous hyper alimentation or gastrostomy. After receiving an informed consent, we performed percutaneous radio frequency ablation (RFA) for the tumor using a Cool-tip needle on April 2, 2003. The algorithm of RFA was 9 min: 30 --> 120 W, 12 min: 50 --> 110 W, 9 min: 50 --> 100 W. After 2 days, the covered stent was implanted in the esophagus and an oral intake was started. Although the operation for undifferentiated thyroid cancer is controversial, we performed RFA and esophageal stenting for improving of QOL. This is the first case report in Japan.