Key clinical point: In hepatitis B e-antigen (HBeAg)-positive, non-cirrhotic, adult patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and baseline hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels of ≥5.00 log 10 IU/mL, pretreatment baseline serum HBV DNA levels were inversely associated with the on-treatment risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Major finding: Relative to that at HBV DNA levels of ≥8.00 log 10 IU/mL, HCC risk increased incrementally with a decrease in baseline HBV DNA levels, with the adjusted hazard ratios for 7.00-7.99, 6.00-6.99, and 5.00-5.99 log 10 IU/mL of HBV DNA being 2.48 ( P = .03), 3.69 ( P = .002), and 6.10 ( P < .001), respectively.
Study details: The findings are from a multicenter cohort study involving 2073 HBeAg-positive, non-cirrhotic, treatment-naive, adult patients with CHB who had baseline HBV DNA levels of ≥5.00 log 10 IU/mL and had initiated treatment with entecavir or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate.
Disclosures: The study was sponsored by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Republic of Korea. Y-S Lim declared being an advisory board member of and receiving research funds from Gilead Sciences.
Source: Choi W-M et al. Increasing on-treatment hepatocellular carcinoma risk with decreasing baseline viral load in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B. J Clin Invest. 2022 (Mar 31). Doi: 10.1172/JCI154833