Risk Of Developing Liver Cancer After HCV Treatment

Sunday, September 10, 2017

Male gender and age over 50 years are independent HCC risk factors in HBsAg seroclearance patients

Journal of Hepatology

Impact of age and gender on risk of hepatocellular carcinoma after hepatitis B surface antigen seroclearance
Terry Cheuk-Fung Yip, Henry Lik-Yuen Chan, Vincent Wai-Sun Wong, Yee-Kit Tse, Kelvin Long-Yan Lam, Grace Lai-Hung Wong

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2017.06.019

Highlights
•Age >50 years and male gender were two risk factors of HCC after HBsAg loss.
•Female patients aged 50 years or below had zero risk of HCC in 5 years.
•Female patients aged above 50 years and all male patients are still at risk of HCC.


Background and Aims
Previous studies suggested spontaneous seroclearance of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was still associated with an increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), in patients ⩾50 years of age. This study aimed to evaluate the risk of HCC after HBsAg seroclearance and the impact of gender on HCC.

Methods
All chronic hepatitis B patients under medical care in Hospital Authority, Hong Kong who had cleared HBsAg between January 2000 and August 2016 were identified. The age of the patient at HBsAg seroclearance, gender, and subsequent development of HCC were analyzed.

Results
A total of 4,568 patients with HBsAg seroclearance were identified; 793 (17.4%) were treated by nucleos(t)ide analogues and 60 (1.3%) had received interferon treatment. At a median (interquartile range) follow-up of 3.4 (1.5–5.0) years, 54 patients developed HCC; cumulative incidences of HCC at 1, 3 and 5 years were 0.9%, 1.3% and 1.5%, respectively. Age above 50 years (adjusted hazard ratio 4.31, 95% confidence interval 1.72–10.84; p = 0.002) and male gender (2.47, 1.24–4.91; p = 0.01) were two independent risk factors of HCC. Female patients aged ⩽50 years (n = 545) had zero risk of HCC within 5 years of follow-up. Male patients aged ⩽50 years (n = 769), female patients aged >50 years (n = 1,149) and male patients aged >50 years (n = 2,105) had a 5-year cumulative incidence of HCC 0.7%, 1.0% and 2.5%, respectively. Similar findings were observed in patients with spontaneous and antiviral treatment-induced HBsAg seroclearance.

Conclusions
Female patients aged 50 years or below have zero risk of HCC after HBsAg seroclearance, whereas female patients aged above 50 years and all male patients are still at risk of HCC.

Lay summary: We investigated 4,568 patients with hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance. Female patients aged 50 years or below have zero risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after HBsAg seroclearance, whereas female patients aged above 50 years and all male patients are still at risk of HCC.

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