Interferon Lowers Tumor Recurrence Rate after Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC) associated with hepatitis B
virus (HBV) infection often recurs after surgical resection (removal of tumors)
or ablation (destruction of tumors using chemicals or heat). As
reported in the December 2006 Journal of Gastroenterology, Japanese researchers
conducted a study to determine whether long-term interferon maintenance therapy
could help lower the risk of tumor recurrence. The
study included 80 consecutive HBV positive patients with cirrhosis and HCC who
underwent potentially curative ablation of liver tumors. Of these, 11 received
long-term interferon therapy. HBV DNA was quantified
at the time of HCC treatment. An HBV DNA value below of 6.0 log copies/mL was
considered "low." Results
•
Initial
HBV DNA was low in 39 patients and high in 41 patients.
•
HCC
recurrence rates were 46.9% in the low HBV DNA group and 82.6% in the high HBV
DNA group 5 years after HCC treatment.
•
After
10 years, the corresponding rates were 73.5% and 91.3% (P = 0.0103).
•
Among
patients with normal aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels (< 38 IU/L; n
= 42), the HCC recurrence rate 5 years after treatment was 50.6%, compared with
84.0% in patients with elevated AST (n = 38).
•
After
10 years, the respective recurrence rates were 71.3% and 100% (P = 0.0003).
•
6
of the 38 patients with abnormal AST and 5 of the 42 patients with normal AST
received interferon after tumor ablation.
•
In
the subset of patients with elevated AST, tumor recurrence rates were:
-
16.7% in the interferon group and 37.9% in the untreated group at the end of the
first year;
- 16.7% and 60.1%, respectively at the end of the second year;
-
16.7% and 83.4% respectively at the end of the second year (P = 0.0139).
•
A multivariate analysis revealed that interferon significantly reduced the HCC
recurrence rate, even after adjusting for background characteristics (hazard ratio
0.21; P = 0.037)
Conclusion In
conclusion, the authors wrote, "Interferon was inferred to decrease tumor
recurrence after treatment of HCC in patients with HBV-related
cirrhosis, especially in the subgroup with high AST." 02/20/07 Reference
T Someya,
K Ikeda, S Saitoh, and others. Interferon lowers tumor recurrence rate after surgical
resection or ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma: a pilot study of patients with
hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis. Journal of Gastroenterology 41(12):
1206-1213. December 2006. | 
