An unwanted side effect: Giant hepatocellular carcinoma development after ledipasvir/sofosbuvir therapy in a chronic hepatitis C virus-induced cirrhotic patient

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth common cancer and the second cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a common cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and HCC. Recently, some new drugs have been developed named direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for chronic HCV treatment. Direct-acting antivirals provide sustained viral response and total cure in over 80% of chronic hepatitis C patients. In this article, we present a patient with HCV genotype 1b-induced cirrhosis with giant HCC development after ledipasvir/sofosbuvir combination therapy. Although chronic hepatitis C infection can be cured with the combination of new generation DAAs, HCC pathogenesis and development risk in cirrhotic cases are still unclear. Thus, cirrhotic patients treated with DAAs should be followed-up at close intervals after treatment.