Prognostic factors in patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing nucleoside analog antiviral therapy

In the present era of entecavir (ETV) use for chronic hepatitis B (CHB), the prognostic factors in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain unclear. The aims of the present study were to investigate the prognostic factors in patients with HBV-related HCC treated with ETV who underwent curative therapy. A total of 74 HBV-related HCC patients treated with ETV who underwent curative therapy were analyzed. Predictive factors associated with overall survival (OS) and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were examined using univariate and multivariate analysis. Our study population included 49 males and 25 females with a median age of 62 years. The median observation period was 3.4 years (range, 0.2–11.5 years). The 1-, 3- and 5-year cumulative OS rates were 100, 89.8 and 89.8%, respectively. The corresponding RFS rates were 82.8, 52.1 and 25.6%, respectively. In this study, 73 patients (98.6%) achieved an HBV DNA level of <400 copies/ml during the follow-up period. No viral breakthrough hepatitis, as defined by 1 log increase from nadir, was observed during ETV therapy. According to multivariate analysis, only hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positivity was significantly associated with OS [hazard ratio (HR), 0.058; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.005–0.645; P=0.020)], whereas HCC stage (HR, 0.359; 95% CI, 0.150–0.859; P=0.021), HBeAg positivity (HR, 0.202; 95% CI, 0.088–0.463; P<0.001) and γ-glutamyl transpeptidase ≥50 IU/l (HR, 0.340; 95% CI, 0.152–0.760; P=0.009) were significant predictive factors linked to RFS. In conclusion, HBeAg positivity was significantly associated with OS and RFS in HBV-related HCC patients treated with ETV who underwent curative therapy. In such patients, close observation is required, even after curative therapy for HCC.