Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Jul-Dec;12(2):73-76.
doi: 10.5005/jp-journals-10018-1383.

Frequency of De Novo Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Direct-acting Antiviral Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C: A Prospective Follow-up

Shahid Rasool  1 , Sofia Hanif  2 , Aneeqa Ahmad  3 , Umair Shafqat  2 , Ahmad Nawaz Babar  2
Affiliations

Frequency of De Novo Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Direct-acting Antiviral Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C: A Prospective Follow-up

Shahid Rasool et al. Euroasian J Hepatogastroenterol. 2022 Jul-Dec.

Abstract

Background: Chronic hepatitis C (CHC) management has changed tremendously after direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) availability. Sustained virological response (SVR) has improved significantly, but one of the major concerns is the chances of de novo hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development after DAAs. The objective of the study is to calculate the frequency of newly diagnosed cases of HCC after antiviral therapy for CHC in Pakistan.

Materials and methods: This prospective, interventional research was conducted from June 2017 to September 2020. All patients after antiviral therapy for CHC were followed with an ultrasound abdomen and α-fetoprotein, six monthly. Multiphasic computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen was performed in suspected cases. For quantitative variables, the mean and standard deviations were calculated, whereas the qualitative variables were analyzed by frequencies and percentages.

Results: Among 180 patients, 110 were men and 70 were women with a mean age of 45.52 ± 11.71 years. One hundred and twenty-six patients were noncirrhotic, 38 had compensated cirrhosis while 16 had decompensated cirrhosis. One hundred and sixty-four (91.11%) patients achieved SVR, of which 22 (12.22%) patients developed new HCC during follow-up. Compensated cirrhosis group had 10 patients, the decompensated group had 12 patients, and the noncirrhotic group had no new HCC cases. Among patients with the new HCC, 12 achieved SVR.

Conclusion: The risk of the development of HCC after antiviral treatment is highly significant among patients with liver cirrhosis. So, a strict surveillance strategy should be adopted in every cirrhotic patient following treatment with DAA agents even if they achieve SVR.

Clinical significance: Chances of developing HCC are still significantly high even after achieving SVR with DAAs in patients with liver cirrhosis.Patients with liver cirrhosis should be under surveillance for HCC even after achieving SVR after DAAs treatment.

How to cite this article: Rasool S, Hanif S, Ahmad A, et al. Frequency of De Novo Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Direct-acting Antiviral Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C: A Prospective Follow-up. Euroasian J Hepato-Gastroenterol 2022;12(2):73-76.

Keywords: Cirrhosis; Direct acting antiviral; Hepatocellular carcinoma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Source of support: Nil Conflict of interest: None

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Frequency of patients achieving SVR after direct acting antiviral therapy
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Frequency of de novo cases of the HCC after the completion of direct acting antiviral therapy in the CHC patients (n = 180)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Gower E, Estes C, Blach S, et al. Global epidemiology and genotype distribution of the hepatitis C virus infection. J hepatol. 2014;61(1):S45–S57. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2014.07.027. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Umer M, Iqbal M. Hepatitis C virus prevalence and genotype distribution in Pakistan: Comprehensive review of recent data. World j gastroenterol. 2016;22(4):1684–1700. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v22.i4.1684. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Conti F, Buonfiglioli F, Scuteri A, et al. Early occurrence and recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in HCV-related cirrhosis treated with direct-acting antivirals. J hepatol. 2016;65(4):727–733. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2016.06.015. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Butt AS, Abbas Z, Jafri W. Hepatocellular carcinoma in Pakistan: Where do we stand? Hepatitis monthly. 2012;12(10 hcc):e6023. doi: 10.5812/hepatmon.6023. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Foster GR, Irving WL, Cheung MC, et al. Impact of direct acting antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C and decompensated cirrhosis. J hepatol. 2016;64(6):12224–12231. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2016.01.029. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources