Abstract
Chronic hepatitis C virus infection is still one of the major risk factors for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most frequent type of primary liver cancer. Direct-acting antivirals have substantially improved the cure rate of the virus, but the risk of hepatitis C virus-related HCC remains high, mainly in patients with advanced liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. HCC is often asymptomatic and, therefore, remains undetected until the late tumor stage, which is associated with poor survival rates. Therefore, to improve the surveillance programs following HCV eradication, there is a need to summarize predictive factors or potential biomarkers, to specifically identify patients likely to develop HCC after direct-acting antiviral treatment. This review outlines the most recent data about different predictive factors for HCC development after direct-acting antiviral treatment of hepatitis C virus-infected patients, to improve the clinical management of patients with chronic hepatitis C virus.
Highlights
Primary liver cancer is the sixth most frequently diagnosed type of cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality [1], with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounting for up to 85% of all primary liver cancer cases
Prospective and retrospective studies investigating the link between the occurrence of HCC and sustained virological response induced by direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment were occurrence of HCC and sustained virological response induced by DAA treatment were recently summarized elsewhere recently summarized elsewhere [12]
Mario et al demonstrated that the risk of HCC development after DAA treatment was significantly increased in patients with hepatic nodules at baseline in a cohort of cirrhotic hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients [22]
Summary
Primary liver cancer is the sixth most frequently diagnosed type of cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality [1], with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounting for up to 85% of all primary liver cancer cases. Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the major risk factors in the development of HCC. It is caused by the capacity of HCV to evade the host’s immune system in approximately 80% of patients [2]. Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents against HCV infection have been a remarkable success. This has been demonstrated by complete viral eradication in up to 95% of HCV patients. Isthere is a to need to summarize the predictive factors or potential biomarkers could help predict risk, by identifying patients likely to develop cancer and includthat could help predict HCC risk, by identifying patients likely to develop cancer and ing them inthem surveillance programs.
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