Remaining hepatocellular carcinoma risk in chronic hepatitis B patients receiving entecavir/tenofovir in South Korea

AIM: We aimed to identify the incidence rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients treated with entecavir or tenofovir in South Korea, and to identify predictors of HCC development in these patients. METHODS: Between January 2007 and December 2015, 582 CHB patients initially received entecavir (n = 406, 69.8%) or tenofovir (n = 176, 30.2%) for CHB. RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 57.1 months, HCC developed in 38 (6.5%) of the 582 patients, regardless of antiviral agent type. Entecavir- and tenofovir-treated patients had similar HCC development rates (P = 0.471). For the 582 patients, 2-, 4-, and 6-year cumulative HCC development rates were 2.6%, 4.4%, and 8.3%, respectively, and the 2-, 4-, and 6-year cumulative HCC development rates of patients with liver cirrhosis were significantly greater than those of patients without liver cirrhosis (6.2%, 9.8%, and 18.4% vs. 0.3%, 1.1%, and 2.2%, respectively; P < 0.001). Older (≥60 years) patients, regardless of the presence of cirrhosis, and cirrhotic patients aged ≥40 years showed significantly higher risk of HCC development compared to others (both P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that an older age (≥50 years; hazard ratio [HR] 5.02, P = 0.009), and the presence of cirrhosis (HR 4.95, P = 0.002) independently predicted HCC development. CONCLUSIONS: The 6-year cumulative HCC development rate was 6.5% in CHB patients treated with entecavir or tenofovir. Age ≥50 years and liver cirrhosis were found to predict HCC development in these patients.