Background: The achievement of high rates of sustained virological response (SVR) with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients will reduce decompensating terminal events. Aims: To investigate whether hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurrence could change due to the DAA-induced increase in life-expectancy. Methods: A Markov model was built on clinical data of 494 cirrhotic patients and available literature to estimate probabilities of “death before HCC” and of “HCC occurrence” without and with DAA. Results: In comparison to untreated patients, DAA therapy reduced the 20-year mortality before HCC by 21.9% in patients without varices and by 21.5% in those with varices, considering an SVR of 95% and no direct effect on hepatocarcinogenesis. Tumour occurrence increased by 5%–8.2% and the proportion of HCCs diagnosed in compensated stages increased to >98%. If we consider DAA as having “anti-tumoral” effects, the benefit becomes greater, achieving a 20-year survival of 81.5% in patients without varices, and 52.2% in patients with varices. Instead, if we consider DAA as having a “pro-tumoral” effect, then, the increased incidence of HCC nullifies the survival benefits. Conclusion: DAAs drastically reduce the mortality caused by the liver function worsening, increasing the proportion of HCCs diagnosed in compensated stages. Knowledge of the DAA effect on hepatocarcinogenesis remains pivotal.

Effect of direct-acting antivirals on future occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in compensated cirrhotic patients / Cucchetti, Alessandro; D’Amico, Gennaro; Trevisani, Franco; Morelli, Maria Cristina; Vitale, Alessandro; Pinna, Antonio Daniele; Cescon, Matteo; Cillo, Umberto; Burra, Patrizia; Russo, Francesco P.; Mescoli, Claudia; Rendina, Maria; Lupo, Luigi G.; Losito, Francesco; Fucilli, Fabio; Brancaccio, Giusep-Pina; Persico, Marcello; Viganò, Luca; Iavarone, Massimo; D’Ambrosio, Roberta; Sangiovanni, Angelo; Renzulli, Matteo; Galati, Giovanni; Ponziani, Francesca Romana; Pompili, Maurizio; Miele, Luca; Grieco, Antonio; Rapaccini, Gianlodovico; Gasbarrini, Antonio; Sandri, Giovanni Battisa Levi; Lai, Quirino; Melandro, Fabio; Rossi, Massimo; Lenci, Ilaria; Manzia, Tommaso Maria; Tortora, Raffaella; Di Costanzo, Giovan Giuseppe; Sacco, Rodolfo; Simonetti, Natalia; Morisco, Filomena; Guarino, Maria; Cabibbo, Giuseppe; Bhoori, Carlo Sposito Sherrie; Di Sandro, Stefano; Foschi, Francesco Giuseppe; Gardini, Andrea Casadei; Nicolini, Daniele; Mazzocato, Susanna; Alba, Kostandini; Violi, Paola; Baccarani, Umberto; Pravisani, Riccardo. - In: DIGESTIVE AND LIVER DISEASE. - ISSN 1590-8658. - 50:(2018), pp. 156-162. [10.1016/j.dld.2017.10.004]

Effect of direct-acting antivirals on future occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in compensated cirrhotic patients

Gardini, Andrea Casadei;
2018-01-01

Abstract

Background: The achievement of high rates of sustained virological response (SVR) with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients will reduce decompensating terminal events. Aims: To investigate whether hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurrence could change due to the DAA-induced increase in life-expectancy. Methods: A Markov model was built on clinical data of 494 cirrhotic patients and available literature to estimate probabilities of “death before HCC” and of “HCC occurrence” without and with DAA. Results: In comparison to untreated patients, DAA therapy reduced the 20-year mortality before HCC by 21.9% in patients without varices and by 21.5% in those with varices, considering an SVR of 95% and no direct effect on hepatocarcinogenesis. Tumour occurrence increased by 5%–8.2% and the proportion of HCCs diagnosed in compensated stages increased to >98%. If we consider DAA as having “anti-tumoral” effects, the benefit becomes greater, achieving a 20-year survival of 81.5% in patients without varices, and 52.2% in patients with varices. Instead, if we consider DAA as having a “pro-tumoral” effect, then, the increased incidence of HCC nullifies the survival benefits. Conclusion: DAAs drastically reduce the mortality caused by the liver function worsening, increasing the proportion of HCCs diagnosed in compensated stages. Knowledge of the DAA effect on hepatocarcinogenesis remains pivotal.
2018
Competing risk
Direct-acting antivirals
Hepatitis C
Hepatocellular carcinoma
Markov model
Survival benefit
Sustained virological response
Hepatology
Gastroenterology
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11768/104089
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