Entecavir Reduced Serum Hepatitis B Core-Related Antigen in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Entecavir Reduced Serum Hepatitis B Core-Related Antigen in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma. Gut Liver. 2020 May 29;: Authors: Mak LY, Ko KL, To WP, Wong DK, Seto WK, Fung J, Yuen MF Abstract Serum hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) was shown to predict the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients undergoing treatment. We investigated the longitudinal profile of HBcrAg in entecavir (ETV)-treated CHB patients with subsequent HCC development. We identified HCC cases diagnosed at ≥1 year after ETV initiation. CHB patients without HCC (matched for age, sex, cirrhosis status, baseline hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA level, and ETV treatment duration) were identified as controls at an HCC:non-HCC ratio of 1:2. Serum samples were retrieved at baseline (ETV initiation) and at 3 and 5 years of ETV therapy for HBcrAg measurement (log IU/mL). In total, 180 patients (60 HCC patients matched with 120 CHB patients without HCC; median age, 56.5 years; 80.6% male; baseline HBV DNA, 5.9 log IU/mL; median follow-up, 6.8 years) were recruited. The median time from ETV initiation to HCC development was 3.2 years. HBcrAg levels were higher in HCC cases than in controls at all three time points: 5.69 log IU/mL versus 5.02 log IU/mL (p=0.025), 4.23 log IU/mL versus 3.36 log IU/mL (p=0.007), and 3.86 log IU/mL vs 3.36 log IU/mL (p=0.009), respectively. ETV led to similar rates of decline in...
Source: Gut and Liver - Category: Gastroenterology Tags: Gut Liver Source Type: research