BACKGROUND: Although hepatocellular carcinoma does develop after sustained response to interferon (IFN) in patients with chronic hepatitis C, details on the clinical prognosis have not been elucidated yet. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Among 12 patients with liver cancer arising after hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination, 10 patients with potentially curative ablation were prospectively analyzed. Matched control patients were chosen from a patient list of surgical resection on the basis of age, sex, cancer stage, and severity of liver disease. Control patients were recruited with a ratio of 1:4, and all the control patients had positive HCV-RNA. RESULTS: One (10.0%) of 10 patients with virus elimination and 31 (77.5%) of 40 control patients eventually developed cancer recurrence during the same follow-up period. Cancer recurrence rates of the 10 cases and 40 controls were 10.0 and 55.3% at the 3rd year, and 10.0 and 72.2% at the 5th year, respectively. The recurrence rate in the 10 cases of virus elimination was significantly lower than that of control patients (p = 0.012). CONCLUSION: Although hepatocellular carcinogenesis after elimination of HCV-RNA by IFN treatment did rarely occur, the recurrence rate after radical therapy was significantly lower than that of untreated or non-responsive patients. Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel
BACKGROUND: Although hepatocellular carcinoma does develop after sustained response to interferon (IFN) in patients with chronic hepatitis C, details on the clinical prognosis have not been elucidated yet. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Among 12 patients with liver cancer arising after hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination, 10 patients with potentially curative ablation were prospectively analyzed. Matched control patients were chosen from a patient list of surgical resection on the basis of age, sex, cancer stage, and severity of liver disease. Control patients were recruited with a ratio of 1:4, and all the control patients had positive HCV-RNA. RESULTS: One (10.0%) of 10 patients with virus elimination and 31 (77.5%) of 40 control patients eventually developed cancer recurrence during the same follow-up period. Cancer recurrence rates of the 10 cases and 40 controls were 10.0 and 55.3% at the 3rd year, and 10.0 and 72.2% at the 5th year, respectively. The recurrence rate in the 10 cases of virus elimination was significantly lower than that of control patients (p = 0.012). CONCLUSION: Although hepatocellular carcinogenesis after elimination of HCV-RNA by IFN treatment did rarely occur, the recurrence rate after radical therapy was significantly lower than that of untreated or non-responsive patients. Copyright 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel