Antiviral therapy for hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma after radical hepatectomy / 中国肿瘤临床

ABSTRACT

Objective:The effect of antiviral therapy for hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radical hepatectomy was assessed. Methods:A total of 478 HBV-HCC patients treated by radical hepatectomy were retrospectively col-lected. Patients in the treatment group (n=141) received postoperative lamivudine therapy (100 mg/d), whereas patients in the control group (n=337) did not. Recurrence-free survival rates, overall survival rates, treatments for recurrent HCC and cause of death were com-pared between the two groups. Propensity score matching was also conducted to reduce confounding bias between the groups. Results:The one-, three-, and five-year recurrence-free survival rates didn't significantly differ between the two groups (P=0.778);however, the one-, three-, and five-year overall survival rates in the treatment group were significantly higher than those in the control group (P=0.002). Similar results were observed in the matched data. Subgroup analysis showed that antiviral treatment conferred a significant sur-vival benefit for Barcelona Clinical Liver Cancer stage A/B patients. Following HCC recurrence, more people in the treatment group were able to choose curative treatments than those in the control group (P=0.031). For cause of death, fewer people in the treatment group died of liver failure than those in the control group (P=0.041). Conclusion:Postoperative antiviral therapy increases chances of receiving curative treatments for recurrent HCC and prevents death because of liver failure, thereby significantly prolonging overall sur-vival, especially in early-or intermedian-stage tumors.