Monitoring the effect of antiviral treatment on the development of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis B patients.

Objective: Despite the availability of treatment and vaccines for chronic hepatitis B infection, it remains a public health problem. The use of nucleos(t)ide antiviral agents is effective in preventing complications such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, but despite the reduction, the risk persists. The objective of this study was to assess alterations in aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index and Fibrosis-4 scores and examine the effectiveness of risk estimates for HCC in chronic hepatitis B scores in predicting the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma among chronic hepatitis B patients undergoing prolonged antiviral treatment.

Methods: This is a retrospective 10-year follow-up study that included chronic hepatitis B patients who received antiviral treatment. The alterations in aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index and Fibrosis-4 scores were examined for the first, fifth, and tenth years. In addition, the expected long-term risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, if antiviral treatment was not initiated, was calculated using the risk estimates for HCC in chronic hepatitis B scores before treatment, and the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma despite long-term antiviral treatment was compared with these values.

Results: The study included a total of 218 chronic hepatitis B patients. A noteworthy decline in aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index and Fibrosis-4 scores was noted across all fibrosis groups, irrespective of the initial degree of fibrosis, during the first year of antiviral treatment. Following the calculation using risk estimates for HCC in chronic hepatitis B scores, one case was observed compared to the expected 15.04 cases of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Conclusion: We showed that both aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index and Fibrosis-4 scores significantly decreased until the fifth year of antiviral treatment, with a prominent decline occurring in the first year. This study demonstrates that the impact of antiviral treatment on fibrosis can be monitored using noninvasive fibrosis scores.