Randomized clinical trial: Nucleos(t)ide analogues improved survival of CHB-related HCC patients via reducing severity and progression of malignancy

BACKGROUND: The influence of nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) to treat Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains to be explored. AIM: To investigate if NAs reduce the severity and progression of CHB-related HCC. RESULTS: Among 532 patients, there were 118 or 414 CHB-related HCC with or without NAs therapy, respectively. BCLC scores, serum level of ALT/AST and HBV DNA were compared. During follow-up, the survival period of CHB-related HCC patients with sustained NAs is significantly longer than that with NAs post-HCC and NAs naïve (p < 0.05). Factors significantly associated with the poor overall survival of CHB-related HCC include BCLC scores (hazard ratio, 1.84 [95% confidence interval, 1.57−2.15], p < 0.001), NAs post-HCC or NAs naïve (1.33 [1.07−1.65], p < 0.01), serum AST ≥ 40 IU/L (1.48 [1.03−2.12], p < 0.05) and HBV DNA ≥ 10(4) copies/ml (1.36 [1.01−1.83], p < 0.001). METHODS: Outcomes of 532 CHB-related HCC patients with/without NAs were investigated. Overall survival of CHB-related HCC patients, NAs naïve (n = 156), NAs received post-HCC (n = 258) and NAs sustained (n = 118) were determined. CONCLUSIONS: NAs reduced severity of CHB-related HCC patients. Sustained NAs is an important factor associated with the extended survival of CHB-related HCC patients.