Tenofovir use is associated with a decreased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma among men with HIV irrespective of coinfection status

Abstract

Tenofovir is recommended as part of the first-line antiretroviral therapy (ART) to treat people living with HIV (PLWH) with HBV coinfection. However, the effects of tenofovir-containing ART on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk among PLWH with/without chronic hepatitis virus infections remain unclear. This study included 23,838 PLWH. All of them were males aged ≥20 years and followed prospectively during 2000-2017. Four major nationwide registries - the Human Immunodeficiency Virus surveillance database, Taiwan Cancer Registry, Death Certification System, and National Health Insurance Database - were applied to define ART and comorbidities and ascertain newly diagnosed HCC. Tenofovir-containing ART was identified through prescription records. Cox proportional hazards models were used to determine the association of tenofovir use with HCC incidence. HCC incidence was lower among ever users of tenofovir than among never users (24.2 and 85.7 per 100,000 person-years, respectively). Ever users had significantly reduced HCC risk (adjusted hazard ratio 0.20, 95% CI 0.13-0.31). The effect of tenofovir use on reduced risk for HCC consistently favored never users across many prespecified subgroups, including HBV or HCV coinfection (p <0.05). The findings were consistent in subgroups of PLWH diagnosed with HIV before tenofovir's approval and in those born before the nationwide roll-out of neonatal HBV vaccination. Our findings underscore the need for randomized controlled trials of tenofovir in combination with long-acting injectable ART regimens to assess its safety and efficacy in PLWH, particularly in those with HBV or HCV coinfection. Tenofovir's effect on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) among people living with HIV with hepatitis B or C coinfection remains under investigated. This nationwide prospective cohort study, comprising 23,838 men living with HIV, showed that tenofovir-containing antiretroviral therapy was associated with reduced risk of HCC (adjusted relative risk: 0.20, 95% CI 0.13-0.31), which was consistently observed across many prespecified subgroups. The effect of tenofovir use on HCC risk should be further investigated in PLWH, particularly following the development of long-acting injectable ART regimens.