No Difference in Incidence of Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis B Virus Infection Treated With Entecavir vs Tenofovir

Abstract

Background & Aims: Studies to evaluate risks of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection treated with the nucelos(t)ide analogues entecavir or tenofovir have produced contradictory results. These differences are likely to be the result of censored data, insufficient observation periods, and different observation periods for patients treated with different drugs. We aimed to compare the incidence of HCC development between patients treated with oral entecavir or tenofovir and followed up for the same time periods.

Methods: We performed a retrospective study, collecting data from 1560 treatment-naive patients with chronic HBV infection who were first treated with entecavir (n = 753) or tenofovir (n = 807) from 2011 through 2015 at 9 academic hospitals in Korea. Clinical outcomes were recorded over a mean time period of 4.7 ± 1.0 years, from 92.4% of patients treated with tenofovir and 92.7% of patients treated with entecavir.

Results: Thirty-four patients in the entecavir group (4.5%) and 45 patients in the tenofovir group (5.6%) developed HCC during the follow-up period. The incidence of HCC did not differ significantly between groups, even in a 516-pair propensity score–matched population.

Conclusions: In a retrospective study of 1560 treatment-naive patients with chronic HBV infection, the incidence of HCC did not differ significantly between patients treated with entecavir vs tenofovir over the same observation period. Clinical trial: KCT0003487.