Effects of a 24-week course of interferon-α therapy after curative treatment of hepatitis C virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 1 Cumulative recurrence rates after curative treatment of HCC. A: Rates of first recurrence compared between IFN and non-IFN groups, showed no significant difference (P = 0.153); B: Rates of second recurrence compared between IFN and non-IFN groups. The second recurrence rate for the IFN group was lower than that for the non-IFN group (P = 0.022).

Figure 2 Cumulative recurrence rates according to SVR to IFN therapy after curative treatment of HCC. A: Rates of first recurrence compared among SVR, non-SVR and non-IFN groups. The rate of first recurrence of HCC in the SVR group was significantly lower than in the non-SVR and non-IFN groups (P = 0.002, P = 0.016, respectively). No significant difference in first recurrence rate was seen between the non-SVR and non-IFN groups (P = 0.381); B: Rates of second recurrence compared among the three groups. Second recurrence of HCC was suppressed in the SVR group compared with the non-SVR and non-IFN groups (P = 0.0037, P = 0.0019, respectively), and to a more pronounced degree than for the first recurrence rate. No significant difference in second recurrence rate was seen between the non-SVR and non-IFN groups (P = 0.90).

Figure 3 Cumulative survival rates after curative treatment of HCC. A: Comparison of cumulative survival rates in the IFN and non-IFN groups. The cumulative survival rate was significantly higher in the IFN group than in the non-IFN group (P = 0.039); B: Comparison of cumulative survival rates in the SVR, non-SVR and non-IFN groups. Although no significant overall difference was found between the SVR and non-SVR groups (P = 0.538), the SVR group had a particularly high survival rate compared with the non-IFN group (P = 0.029).

Figure 4 Influence of IFN therapy after curative treatment of HCC on Child-Pugh scores. IFN-treated patients were less likely to show deterioration of hepatic function. In particular, liver function scores in the SVR group were significantly better preserved than in the non-IFN group (P = 0.003). Median observation time was 59.8 mo in the SVR group, 45 mo in the non-SVR group, and 51.8 mo in the non-IFN group.