The association of hepatitis B virus screening and antiviral prophylaxis with adverse liver outcomes in Chinese cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy: A retrospective study

Currently, the association of the initiation time of hepatitis B virus (HBV) screening and antiviral prophylaxis with adverse liver outcomes in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy remains conflicting. This retrospective study was designed to determine the association of HBV screening and antiviral prophylaxis with adverse liver outcomes, and then proposed optimal management strategies on HBV screening and antiviral prophylaxis. We analyzed the medical data of Chinese cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy between 2000 and 2015. Descriptive statistics and Chi square tests were performed to analyze the basic characteristics of patients. Time-to-event analysis was used to determine incidence, and competing risk analysis was used to determine the hazard ratios (HRs) for outcomes. A total of 12,158 patients (81.1% with solid tumors) were analyzed. Among solid tumors patients, late screening and late antiviral therapy of chronic HBV were associated with higher incidence of hepatitis flare (HR 3.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.26–4.79; HR 6.79, 95% CI 4.42–10.41), hepatic impairment (HR 2.96, 95% CI 2.03–4.32; HR 8.03, 95% CI 4.78–13.48), liver failure (HR 2.19, 95% CI 1.41–3.40; HR 14.81, 95% CI 6.57–33.42), and HBV-related death (HR 3.29, 95% CI 2.26–4.79; HR 8.30, 95% CI 4.95–13.91) in comparison with early screening and early therapy. Early HBV screening and antiviral therapy could reduce the risk of adverse liver outcomes among chronic HBV patients receiving chemotherapy. Hepatitis B surface antibody-positivity was associated with a decreased risk of liver failure and chronic HBV, late screening or late antiviral therapy were predictors of liver failure for patients with anti-tumor therapy. However, it should be applied cautiously into each types of solid tumors and hematologic malignancies because subgroup analysis according to type of cancer was not designed.