Suppressive effects of entecavir on hepatitis B virus and hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

We investigated the efficacy and effectiveness of entecavir in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients. We enrolled 231 nucleoside-naïve chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients primarily treated with entecavir 0.5 mg/day for at least 6 months in our institution. Of these, 71 patients had HCC at the start of entecavir treatment (HCC group) and 160 did not (non-HCC group). We compared antiviral responses to entecavir in the two groups, and evaluated the effects of entecavir on the clinical outcomes of curatively-treated HCC patients. The HCC and non-HCC groups had similar cumulative rates of HBV-DNA negativity, alanine aminotransferase normalization, and hepatitis e antigen loss in year 2 (100% vs 95.4%, 94.7% vs 97.3%, and 40.8% vs 41.8%, respectively; P > 0.05). Entecavir treatment for 12 months decreased mean Model for End-Stage Liver Disease scores in patients with cirrhosis and HCC (7.2 vs 5.6, P < 0.001). Of the 71 HCC patients, 16 underwent curative therapies concurrently with entecavir; hepatectomy in six and radiofrequency ablation in 10, and the 55 remaining patients received transarterial chemoembolization or conservative treatment. In a subgroup of 16 HCC patients receiving curative treatments, patients who became serum HBV DNA negative by week 24 had better overall survival (P = 0.039), but not recurrence-free survival (P = 0.961), than those who did not. First-line entecavir monotherapy is comparably effective in CHB patients with and without HCC, and improves hepatic function in HBV-related HCC patients. An early virological response to entecavir is prognostic of improved survival following curative therapy against HBV-related HCC.