HBV DNA levels impact the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma patients with microvascular invasion

To discuss the prognostic correlation between hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV DNA) level and HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with microvascular invasion (MVI). Data from HCC patients undergoing hepatectomy with pathological evidence of MVI were retrospectively collected and 1:1 propensity scoring matching (PSM) analysis was performed. According to the HBV DNA levels before and after surgery, the disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) were evaluated using the Kaplan–Meier method, and the Cox proportional hazards regression was used to analyze the risk factors associated with the postoperative prognosis. After 1:1 PSM, 139 pairs of patients were enrolled in the high preoperative HBV DNA level group (H group) and low preoperative HBV DNA level group (L group), and after operation, patients with high preoperative HBV DNA levels were divided into the persistently high HBV DNA level group (P group) and the decreased HBV DNA level group (D group). According to the multivariate analysis, the HBV DNA level of 2000 IU/ml or greater before operation was significantly associated with the DFS (hazard ratio, 1.322; 95%CI, 1.016–1.721) and OS (hazard ratio, 1.390; 95%CI, 1.023–1.888). A persistent HBV DNA level of 2,000 IU/ml or greater after operation was also the independent risk factor of DFS (hazard ratio, 1.421; 95%CI, 1.018–1.984) and OS (hazard ratio, 1.545; 95%CI, 1.076–2.219). For the HBV-related HCC patients with MVI, preoperative high HBV DNA copies are prognostication of poorer prognosis, and effective antivirus treatment would significantly improve the patients’ prognosis.