OBJECTIVE: The utility of risk scores to predict the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients treated with nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) remains to be elucidated. METHODS: CU-HCC (The Chinese University of Hong Kong-HCC) and GAG-HCC (Guide with Age, Gender, HBV DNA, Core promoter mutations and Cirrhosis) scores of 225 Japanese patients treated with NAs for at least 2 years were calculated before and 2 years after the NA treatment. According to the cutoff values, the patients were categorized into high-score or low-score groups. RESULTS: Sixteen of 225 patients developed HCC. Patients with a high score before the NA treatment showed a significantly higher HCC incidence than those with a low score using both score models (p < 0.001). Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analyses based on scores before and 2 years after the NA treatment showed that both models exhibited moderate accuracy in predicting HCC development. The HCC incidence was significantly lower in the patients whose scores decreased below the cutoff values in response to the NA treatment than in those whose scores remained high using both models (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The predictive performance of the CU-HCC and GAG-HCC scores in the CHB patients treated with NAs is comparable to that in the NA-naive patients. The patients with sustained high scores after the NA treatment showed a higher incidence of HCC development.
OBJECTIVE: The utility of risk scores to predict the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients treated with nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) remains to be elucidated. METHODS: CU-HCC (The Chinese University of Hong Kong-HCC) and GAG-HCC (Guide with Age, Gender, HBV DNA, Core promoter mutations and Cirrhosis) scores of 225 Japanese patients treated with NAs for at least 2 years were calculated before and 2 years after the NA treatment. According to the cutoff values, the patients were categorized into high-score or low-score groups. RESULTS: Sixteen of 225 patients developed HCC. Patients with a high score before the NA treatment showed a significantly higher HCC incidence than those with a low score using both score models (p < 0.001). Time-dependent receiver operating characteristic analyses based on scores before and 2 years after the NA treatment showed that both models exhibited moderate accuracy in predicting HCC development. The HCC incidence was significantly lower in the patients whose scores decreased below the cutoff values in response to the NA treatment than in those whose scores remained high using both models (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The predictive performance of the CU-HCC and GAG-HCC scores in the CHB patients treated with NAs is comparable to that in the NA-naive patients. The patients with sustained high scores after the NA treatment showed a higher incidence of HCC development.
Authors: George V Papatheodoridis; George N Dalekos; Ramazan Idilman; Vana Sypsa; Florian Van Boemmel; Maria Buti; Jose Luis Calleja; John Goulis; Spilios Manolakopoulos; Alessandro Loglio; Margarita Papatheodoridi; Nikolaos Gatselis; Rhea Veelken; Marta Lopez-Gomez; Bettina E Hansen; Savvoula Savvidou; Anastasia Kourikou; John Vlachogiannakos; Kostas Galanis; Cihan Yurdaydin; Rafael Esteban; Harry L A Janssen; Thomas Berg; Pietro Lampertico Journal: JHEP Rep Date: 2021-04-20