Patients with hepatitis B virus infection
treated with long-term nucleoside analogue therapy had a decreased risk
for developing hepatitis B virus infection-related hepatocellular
carcinoma, according to study data.
“The incidence of HCC varies significantly by
geographical origin and ethnic group due to differences in the age at
infection, genetic background, HBV genotype and exposers to HCC risk
factors,” the researchers wrote. “We hypothesized that the observed risk
of HCC would be lower than that expected in the absence of treatment,
supporting a chemopreventative effect of [nucleoside analogues] on HCC
development.”
In a retrospective study, researchers analyzed data from 322 patients (median age, 46 years) with chronic HBV who underwent treatment with nucleoside analogues
between 1999 and 2012 at the Calgary Liver Unit in Canada. The data,
collected using the REACH-B model before the initiation of treatment,
were used to predict annual risk for HCC. Patients were treated with either lamivudine, telbivudine (Tyzeka, Novartis), adefovir, entecavir or tenofovir (Viread, Gilead Sciences). Median follow-up was 3.2 years.
Labels: antivirals and HCC, nucs