Interferon therapy reduces incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with high risk of hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 1 Design and patients enrolled in this study. Reasons for exclusion during the 5-year follow-up included: Loss to follow-up (n = 42), self-discontinuation of treatment (n = 18), and development of decompensated cirrhosis (n = 9). HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; HBV: Hepatitis B virus; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; NAs: Nucleos(t)ide analogs; IFN: Interferon.

Figure 2 Cumulative incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma over 5 years of follow-up in patients treated with nucleos(t)ide analogs vs interferon-based therapy. A: Before propensity score matching: The 5-year cumulative incidence was 25.74% (64/248) in the nucleos(t)ide analogs group and 2.54% (3/120) in the interferon group (P < 0.001, log-rank test); B: After propensity score matching (1:3 matching): The 5-year cumulative incidence was 22.0% (30/145) in the nucleos(t)ide analogs group and 2.94% (2/71) in the interferon group (P < 0.001, log-rank test). Shaded areas represent 95% confidence intervals. HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; NAs: Nucleos(t)ide analogs; IFN: Interferon.

Figure 3 Subgroup analysis forest map of hepatocellular carcinoma in a high risk population of hepatitis-B-virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma. HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; NAs: Nucleos(t)ide analogs; IFN: Interferon; HR: Hazard ratio; CI: Confidence interval.

Figure 4 Changes in hepatocellular carcinoma risk stratification in interferon group and nucleos(t)ide analogs group before and after treatment. A: Changes in the proportion of different risk groups before and after treatment based on Real-world Effectiveness from the Asia Pacific Rim Liver Consortium for hepatitis B virus score; B: Changes in the number of different risk groups before and after treatment based on Real-world Effectiveness from the Asia Pacific Rim Liver Consortium for hepatitis B virus score; C: Changes in the proportion of different risk groups before and after treatment based on age-male-ALBI-platelets score; D: Changes in the number of different risk groups before and after treatment based on age-male-ALBI-platelets score. NAs: Nucleos(t)ide analogs; IFN: Interferon; REAL-B: Real-world Effectiveness from the Asia Pacific Rim Liver Consortium for hepatitis B virus; aMAP: Age-male-ALBI-platelets.