Japan Digestive Disease Week 2021
International Poster Session 3 (JDDW)
November 5, 9:30–10:10, Room 16 (Kobe International Exhibition Hall No.3 Building Digital Poster Venue)
IP-15_H
Hepatitis B core-related antigen as a marker for disease progression and predictive risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B patients
- 1
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Musashino Red Cross Hospital
Background/Aim: The serum hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) is considered a marker of the amount and activity of intrahepatic covalently closed circular (ccc) DNA. This study aims to investigate the virological characteristics of HBcrAg in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients and to reveal the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk factors of HBeAg-negative patients.
Methods: HBcrAg was measured in 245 naive CHB patients before receiving Nucleos(t)ide analogs (NA) therapy. All patients were receiving NA (ETV,TDF,TAF) continuously for more than 1 year until the end of follow-up, and they did not have a history of HCC. Hepatitis B viral status was compared between 106 HBeAg-positive and 139 HBeAg-negative patients.
Results: Median HBcrAg levels were significantly higher in HBeAg-positive patients than in HBeAg-negative patients (>6.8 vs 3.7 logU/mL, p<0.01). In HBeAg-negative patients, higher HBcrAg levels were associated with cirrhosis (119chronic hepatitis/20cirrhosis = 3.5/4.7 log U/mL, p=0.03) and higher serum HBV DNA. During a median follow-up of 5.28 (1.03–12.0) years, the five-year cumulative HCC incidence rate was 5.4% in the HBeAg-negative cohort. In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, higher HBcrAg levels at 1 year were independent predictive factors for HCC development in HBeAg-negative patients who received NA therapy (cutoff value, 4.1 log U/mL; HR,6.749; 95%CI, 1.334–34.15, p<0.01).
Conclusion: HBcrAg was useful for understanding disease progression and prediction of HCC development in HBeAg-negative patients.
Methods: HBcrAg was measured in 245 naive CHB patients before receiving Nucleos(t)ide analogs (NA) therapy. All patients were receiving NA (ETV,TDF,TAF) continuously for more than 1 year until the end of follow-up, and they did not have a history of HCC. Hepatitis B viral status was compared between 106 HBeAg-positive and 139 HBeAg-negative patients.
Results: Median HBcrAg levels were significantly higher in HBeAg-positive patients than in HBeAg-negative patients (>6.8 vs 3.7 logU/mL, p<0.01). In HBeAg-negative patients, higher HBcrAg levels were associated with cirrhosis (119chronic hepatitis/20cirrhosis = 3.5/4.7 log U/mL, p=0.03) and higher serum HBV DNA. During a median follow-up of 5.28 (1.03–12.0) years, the five-year cumulative HCC incidence rate was 5.4% in the HBeAg-negative cohort. In the multivariate Cox regression analysis, higher HBcrAg levels at 1 year were independent predictive factors for HCC development in HBeAg-negative patients who received NA therapy (cutoff value, 4.1 log U/mL; HR,6.749; 95%CI, 1.334–34.15, p<0.01).
Conclusion: HBcrAg was useful for understanding disease progression and prediction of HCC development in HBeAg-negative patients.
- Index Term 1: hepatitis B virus (HBV)
- Index Term 2: hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg)