Incidence and risk factors of hepatocellular carcinoma change over time in patients with hepatitis C virus infection who achieved sustained virologic response.

Aim: In patients with chronic hepatitis C, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurs at a certain frequency, even if a sustained virologic response (SVR) is achieved by antiviral treatment. Old age, liver fibrosis, and high post-treatment α-fetoprotein (AFP) level are typical risk factors of post-SVR HCC. We examined whether the frequencies and factors of HCC in patients with an SVR achieved from interferon treatment changed.

Prospective Comparison of Gd-EOB-DTPA-Enhanced MRI with Dynamic CT for Detecting Recurrence of HCC after Radiofrequency Ablation.

Background: We prospectively compared the efficacy of gadolinium-ethoxybenzyl-diethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA)-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with that of dynamic multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) for detection of recurrent hypervascular hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radiofrequency ablation (RFA).

Methods: Institutional review board approval and written informed consent were obtained for this multicenter study. Ninety-seven HCC patients treated with curative RFA underwent both Gd-EOB-DTPA-enhanced MRI and dynamic MDCT every 3-4 months.

Impact of alpha-fetoprotein on hepatocellular carcinoma development during entecavir treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus infection.

Background: Entecavir (ETV) is one of the first-line nucleoside analogs for treating patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk for ETV-treated patients remains unclear.

Methods: A total of 496 Japanese patients with chronic HBV infection undergoing ETV treatment were enrolled in this study.