Interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis B reduces progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis
- PMID: 19220736
- DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2893.2009.01070.x
Interferon therapy in chronic hepatitis B reduces progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma: a meta-analysis
Abstract
Interferon (IFN) has been used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B for decades. Beneficial effects including hepatitis B e antigen/HBV DNA seroclearance have been documented. However, the effect of treatment on the prevention of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development remains controversial. We conducted a meta-analysis of available literature to evaluate whether IFN reduces the incidence of liver cirrhosis and HCC in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Twelve clinical controlled trials, including 2082 patients and comparing IFN with no treatment, were selected. Data on the incidence of liver cirrhosis and HCC in IFN treated and untreated patients were extracted from each study. The evaluation of preventive effectiveness was performed with an intention-to-treat method. The relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) of the main outcomes as a measure of efficacy were used. Meta-analysis was performed using fixed-effect or random-effect methods, depending on absence or presence of significant heterogeneity. Analyses were performed with STATA version 9.0 and Review Manager Version 4.2. Five studies including the data on development of liver cirrhosis, and eleven studies including the data on development of HCC were analyzed. There was no evidence for publication bias on the funnel plot or by Egger's test, and the heterogeneity test indicated that the variation of trial-specific RR was not statistically significant. A different incidence of liver cirrhosis and HCC was observed between treated and untreated patients. The RR of liver cirrhosis and HCC was 0.65 (95% CI: 0.47, 0.91) and 0.59 (95% CI: 0.43, 0.81), respectively. In conclusion, the results of this meta-analysis indicate that IFN prevents or delays the development of liver cirrhosis and HCC in patients with chronic hepatitis B.
Similar articles
-
Long-term efficacy of interferon alpha therapy on hepatitis B viral replication in patients with chronic hepatitis B: a meta-analysis.Antiviral Res. 2010 Feb;85(2):361-5. doi: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2009.10.023. Epub 2009 Nov 10. Antiviral Res. 2010. PMID: 19900483
-
Meta-analysis: Treatment of hepatitis B infection reduces risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2008 Nov 1;28(9):1067-77. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2036.2008.03816.x. Epub 2008 Jul 24. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2008. PMID: 18657133
-
Long-term effect of interferon therapy on incidence of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in Thai patients with chronic hepatitis B.Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2001 Sep;32(3):452-8. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2001. PMID: 11944697
-
Prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma in hepatitis B virus infection.J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2009 Aug;24(8):1352-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1746.2009.05985.x. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2009. PMID: 19702903 Review.
-
[Strategies for the prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma in the context of chronic viral hepatitis].Z Gastroenterol. 2008 Jan;46(1):69-80. doi: 10.1055/s-2007-963684. Z Gastroenterol. 2008. PMID: 18188819 Review. German.
Cited by
-
Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Hepatitis B Virus-Infected Patients and the Role of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg).J Clin Med. 2022 Feb 21;11(4):1126. doi: 10.3390/jcm11041126. J Clin Med. 2022. PMID: 35207397 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Effect of antiviral treatment on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis B.World J Hepatol. 2010 Mar 27;2(3):91-3. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v2.i3.91. World J Hepatol. 2010. PMID: 21160979 Free PMC article.
-
Long-term nucleos(t)ide analogues therapy for adults with chronic hepatitis B reduces the risk of long-term complications: a meta-analysis.Virol J. 2011 Feb 15;8:72. doi: 10.1186/1743-422X-8-72. Virol J. 2011. PMID: 21324130 Free PMC article. Review.
-
Current Perspectives of Immunotherapy for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.Comb Chem High Throughput Screen. 2025;28(2):185-201. doi: 10.2174/0113862073255266231025111125. Comb Chem High Throughput Screen. 2025. PMID: 38031784 Review.
-
Risk factors and prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma in the era of precision medicine.J Hepatol. 2018 Mar;68(3):526-549. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2017.09.016. Epub 2017 Oct 6. J Hepatol. 2018. PMID: 28989095 Free PMC article. Review.
Publication types
MeSH terms
Substances
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources