Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate reduces hepatocellular carcinoma, decompensation and death in chronic hepatitis B patients with cirrhosis

Summary Background Lamivudine and entecavir reduce hepatic events and death in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with cirrhosis, but the impact of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is less well studied. Aim To investigate the effectiveness of TDF therapy in CHB patients with cirrhosis. Methods We studied TDF‐treated and untreated CHB patients with cirrhosis from three tertiary centres. TDF cohort included consecutive patients who received TDF for ≥12 months while the untreated cohort were historical controls receiving routine clinical care prior to the availability of anti‐viral therapy. The primary outcome was 5‐year cumulative probability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with secondary outcomes being hepatic decompensation and death or liver transplantation (LT). Results A total of 1088 (291 untreated and 797 TDF‐treated) patients were included in the study. Five‐year cumulative probabilities in untreated vs TDF‐treated cohorts were 14.9% vs 9.8% for HCC ( P = .07), 22.3% vs 5.9% for decompensation ( P < .01) and 13.1% vs 1.1% for death or LT ( P < .01) respectively. On multivariable Cox regression, TDF treatment was independently associated with reduced risks of HCC (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] 0.46, P < .01), decompensating events (aHR 0.28, P = .01) and death or LT (aHR 0.06, P < .01). On sensitivity analyses, these risk reductions with TDF treatment were consistently demonstrated regardless of severity of liver disease and prior anti‐viral treatment. TDF treatment led to sustained improvements in most validated prognostic scores for predicting HCC, decompensation and death. Conclusions Compared to untreated patients, TDF treatment reduces the risks of HCC, hepatic decompensation and death in CHB patients with cirrhosis at 5 years.