Antiviral Treatment for Chronic Hepatitis B Reduces Risks

Cirrhosis risk was significantly reduced in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection (CHB) who received antiviral therapy compared with those untreated for CHB, according to a study published in The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

The retrospective study, which spanned the years 2010 through 2018, included 4064 adults with CHB without human immunodeficiency virus from 4 US safety-net health systems. Among them, 23.2% received antiviral therapy for CHB while 76.8% did not.

Propensity-score matching of 428 patients who received antiviral therapy with 428 patients who were untreated revealed a lower risk of cirrhosis and a lower risk of a composite of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, or death with antiviral treatment. Hazard ratios were 0.65 for cirrhosis and 0.67 for the composite of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, or death, according to the study.

The benefits of antiviral therapies in reducing cirrhosis risk with CHB were demonstrated primarily in women, patients younger than 45, and patients of Asian ethnicity.

“Our propensity score–matched cohort of noncirrhotic CHB patients demonstrated significant reductions in risk of cirrhosis due to CHB treatment,” researchers reported.

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference

Wong RJ, Jain MK, Therapondos G, Niu B, Kshirsagar O, Thamer M. Antiviral therapy reduces risk of cirrhosis in noncirrhotic HBV patients among 4 urban safety-net health systems. Am J Gastroenterol. 2021;116(7):1465-1475.