Is there increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence in liver transplant patients with direct-acting antiviral therapy?

De novo hepatocellular carcinoma in living donor liver grafts: A Japanese multicenter experience

AIM

Direct-acting antivirals for hepatitis C virus have reduced the decompensation risk. Immunosuppressants for transplantation raise the risk of occurrence of de novo malignancies. We assessed the probabilities of and risk factors for de novo hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development post-living donor liver transplantation (LDLT).

METHODS

We retrospectively evaluated the data of developed HCC in a graft including metastatic HCC post-LDLT from 2779 adult cases collected from nine major liver transplantation centers in Japan.

RESULTS

Of 2779 LDLT adult recipients, 34 (1.2%) developed HCCs in their grafts. Of 34, five HCCs appeared to be de novo because of a longer period to tumor detection (9.7 [6.4-15.4] years) and no HCC within the native liver of the two recipients. The donor origin of three of five de novo HCCs was confirmed using microsatellite analysis in resected tissue. Primary disease of all five was hepatitis C virus-related cirrhosis, of which two were treated with direct-acting antivirals. Four of five developed HCC de novo in the hepatitis B core antibody-positive grafts. De novo HCCs had favorable prognosis; four of five were cured with complete remission. However, recurrent HCC (n = 29) in the graft had a poorer outcome, especially in patients with neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio scores above 4 (median survival time, 262 [19-463] days).

CONCLUSION

Analysis of the database from major liver transplantation institutes in Japan revealed that de novo HCCs determined by microsatellite analysis were rarely detected, but the majority were successfully treated. LDLT recipients with higher risks of de novo HCC, including those with hepatitis B core antibody-positive grafts, should be carefully followed by surveillance of the liver graft.

Systematic review with meta-analysis: effectiveness of direct-acting antiviral treatment for hepatitis C in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is highly curative and tolerable. Among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), optimal timing of DAA therapy remains unclear. Data on efficacy of DAA therapy in patients with HCC would inform this decision-making.

AIM

To evaluate response to DAA therapy among patients diagnosed with HCV infection and HCC.

METHODS

Bibliographic databases and conference abstracts were searched. Meta-analysis was conducted to pool sustained virologic response (SVR) estimates.

RESULTS

Fifty-six studies with 5522 patients with HCV and HCC were included. Overall SVR was 88.3% (95% CI 86.1-90.4). Twenty-seven studies included patients with prior or present HCC (n = 3126) and patients without HCC (n = 49 138), in which SVR was 88.2% (95% CI 85.0-91.4) and 92.4% (95% CI 91.1-93.7) among patients with and without HCC, respectively (odds ratio: 0.54, 95% CI 0.43-0.68, P < .001). In the subgroup analyses, higher SVR was seen in patients who received curative HCC management (SVR 90.4%, 95% CI 88.3-92.4), or treated with sofosbuvir + NS5A inhibitor DAAs (SVR 96.9%, 95% CI 94.3-99.4), or in patients with HCV genotype 1 infection (SVR 92.0%, 95% CI 88.1-95.6).

CONCLUSION

Response to DAA therapy was lower in patients with HCC compared to those without HCC, regardless of cirrhosis status. Among HCC patients, there was an impact of proportion with curative HCC management on DAA therapy response.