Prevalence and impact of hepatitis B virus infection in ovarian cancer patients in an endemic area-A retrospective cohort study

Survival outcomes of patients with head and neck squamous cell cancer with hepatitis B virus infection: An analysis from an endemic tertiary center

BACKGROUND

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects the occurrence and survival outcome of various malignant disorders. The study aimed to evaluate the survival outcome of head and neck squamous cell cancer (HNSCC) patients with or without HBV infection.

METHODS

This study included patients with HNSCC who visited Taichung Veterans General Hospital from 2007 to 2015. HBV infection was defined by hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seropositivity. By propensity score matching, we compared survival outcomes, including progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS), among patients with or without HBV infection.

RESULTS

The prevalence of HBV infection in our cohort was 12.3%. Among the 1,015 patients included in the matched analysis, a higher risk of baseline liver cirrhosis (11.3% vs. 3.4%, p < 0.001) and initial hepatic dysfunction (10.8% vs. 5.4%, p = 0.005) rates were observed than those without HBV infection at baseline. The 5-year OS was 43.1% and 53.2% (p < 0.001) and the 5-year PFS was 37.4% and 42.3% (p = 0.007) in patients with and without HBV infection, respectively. The incidence of subsequent hepatic dysfunction showed no difference between patients with and without HBV infection (29.6% vs. 26.8%, p = 0.439).

CONCLUSIONS

Patients with HNSCC and HBV infection were younger and had a higher risk of cirrhosis compared to those without HBV infection. Moreover, HBV infection significantly influenced the OS and PFS outcomes but not subsequent hepatic dysfunction in patients with HNSCC.

The Burden of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, and Human Immunodeficiency Viruses in Ovarian Cancer Patients in Nairobi, Kenya

Ovarian cancer (OC) is a gynecological malignancy characterized by high morbidity and mortalities due to late-stage diagnosis because accurate early diagnostic biomarkers are lacking. Testing of Hepatitis B virus (HBV), Hepatitis C virus (HCV), and Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections in OC patients is pertinent in light of the emerging evidence of their contribution to poor prognosis. We, for the first time, investigated the prevalence of HBV, HCV, and HIV infections in a Kenyan cohort of OC to inform optimal management. We recruited a cohort of women above 18 years of age, comprising 86 OC patients and 50 healthy controls. Participants’ blood samples were serologically screened for HBV, HCV, and HIV. We found seroprevalence rates of 29.1%, 26.7%, and 1.2% for HBV, HIV, and HCV, respectively, in OC patients. The healthy control group had HBV and HIV seroprevalence rates of 3.9% for each with no positive HCV case. HBV/HIV coinfection was noted only in the OC group with a positivity rate of 17.4%. In summary, we found higher HBV and HIV seroprevalence in Kenyan OC patients compared to the healthy control group, whereas HCV prevalence was reflective of the general population. Hence, we recommend screening for HBV and HIV among OC patients destined for anticancer treatment.

Prognostic value of serological markers of hepatitis B virus infection in squamous cell cervical cancer

Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the prognostic value of serological markers of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in squamous cell cervical cancer.

Methods: Squamous cell cervical cancer patients treated by concurrent chemoradiotherapy from January 2013 to December 2015 at Yunnan Cancer Hospital were retrospectively reviewed.

Results: Of a total of 277 patients, 12 (4.33%), 93 (33.57%), 2 (0.72%), 25 (9.02%), and 36 patients (13.00%) were seropositive for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-hepatitis B surface antibodies (anti-HBs), hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg), anti-hepatitis B envelope antibodies (anti-HBe), and anti-hepatitis B core antibodies (anti-HBc), respectively. No patients experienced more than mild hepatic adverse events during treatment. The five-year overall survival (OS) rates for patients with anti-HBs positive or negative status were 85.8% and 66.2% (p = 0.039), respectively. No statistically significant difference in the five-year OS rates was observed in HBsAg positive and negative, HBeAg positive and negative, anti-HBe positive and negative, anti-HBc positive and negative patients. The multivariable analysis revealed that anti-HBs positivity was an independent favorable prognostic factor for OS (HR= 0.279; 95%CI: 0.083-0.936; p = 0.039) in patients younger than 50 years.

Conclusions: The presence of anti-HBs predicts a superior OS for squamous cell cervical cancer patients aged younger than 50 years.

Prognostic Value of Hepatitis B Virus Infection in Very Young Patients With Curatively Resected Breast Cancer: Analyses From an Endemic Area in China

Background: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has been associated with the risk and prognosis of many malignancies. Nevertheless, the association between HBV and the prognosis of breast cancer is unclear. The objectives of this study were to investigate the prognostic role of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and to integrate HBsAg to establish nomograms for better prognostic prediction of very young patients with breast cancer.

Methods: This analysis was performed retrospectively in a cohort of 1,012 consecutive very young (≤35 at diagnosis) patients who received curative resection for breast cancer. The significance of HBsAg in the prognosis of these patients was investigated. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify independent variables for disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Nomograms were built based on those identified variables.

Results: Overall, 140 of the 1,012 patients (13.8%) were seropositive for HBsAg. The median follow-up was 67.9 (95% CI, 64.4–71.4) months for the entire population. The HBsAg-positive cohort had significantly inferior DFS (HR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.07–2.56; P = 0.021) and OS (HR, 1.75; 95% CI, 1.10–2.79; P = 0.016) as compared with the HBsAg-negative cohort. The rates of 10-year DFS and OS were 77.4 and 73.0% in the HBsAg-positive group and 84.1 and 85.6% in the HBsAg-negative group, respectively. In multivariable analysis, HBsAg status was identified as an independent significant unfavorable prognostic factor for DFS (P = 0.01) and OS (P = 0.04) in very young patients with breast cancer. Nomograms were established and displayed good calibration and acceptable discrimination. The C-index values for DFS and OS were 0.656 (95% CI: 0.620–0.691) and 0.738 (95% CI: 0.697–0.779), respectively. Based on the total prognostic scores (TPS) of the nomograms, 3 different prognosis groups were identified for DFS and OS.

Conclusions: HBsAg is an independent unfavorable prognostic factor for DFS and OS in very young patients with curatively resected breast cancer, and nomograms integrating HBsAg provide individual survival prediction to benefit prognosis evaluation and individualized therapy.