Untitled

Abstract

A retrospective multicenter analysis of 652 patients with chronic hepatitis C who have been treated with interferon (IFN) was performed to assess the effects of IFN on the clinical course and development of HCC. During a mean follow-up of 54.8 months, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) developed in 7.0% of the patients. The rate was significantly higher in the patients who did not respond to IFN treatment than in those with sustained virological response and those who obtained a normalization of alanine aminotransferase levels despite the presence of HCV RNA (incomplete response) (P < 0.01). Using multivariate Cox's proportional hazard model, alcohol abuse (P < 0.05) and a higher level of fibrosis (P < 0.05) before treatment were the significant background factors associated with HCC development in the patients who did not respond to IFN. Interestingly, a significant increase in the rate of HCC development occurred in patients who had a histological finding of progressive fibrosis (F3). In addition, patients with low histological staging scores were likely to have an incomplete response, even if a sustained virological response was not obtained. IFN produced an improvement in histological activity and fibrosis stage in the second biopsy specimens irrespective of the clinical outcome when compared against untreated subjects.

Treatment of chronic hepatitis C regiments containing with recombinant interferon in patients with sustained virological response predicts risk of hepatocellular carcinoma

“…Of the 20 studies that were included, 4 studies were prospective studies[ 13 15 24 25 ] and16 were retrospective studies. [ 4 11 16 17 22 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 ] Treatment regimens in 5 of the included studies consisted of combination therapy with peg-IFN and RBV. [ 4 11 24 26 27 28 31 33 34 ] The duration of treatment was at least 24 weeks in most of the included studies, and the total number of enrolled patients in each study ranged from 130 to 1654.…”

“…We performed a subgroup analysis based on the country where the study was conducted. The Asia region included Japan,[ 4 11 13 15 16 22 24 25 26 27 31 32 34 ] Taiwan,[ 28 29 30 ] and Korea. [17] The non-Asia region included France, [35] Italy, [33] and Portugal.…”

“… [2] Necro-inflammation plays an important role in hepatic carcinogenesis, and the occurrence of HCC has been shown to be associated with the degree and severity of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. [ 3 4 ] The goal of CHC treatment is virus elimination as well as prevention of HCC. Interferon (IFN) therapy has been shown to reduce inflammation and necrosis scores, prevent progression to HCC, and achieve viral clearance in CHC patients.…”

“…Interferon (IFN) therapy has been shown to reduce inflammation and necrosis scores, prevent progression to HCC, and achieve viral clearance in CHC patients. [ 4 5 ]…”