Neither hepatitis C virus genotype nor virus load affects survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype and virus load, the strongest determinants of the efficacy of interferon therapy, have been presumed to be associated with risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study was conducted to elucidate whether these two factors are capable of predicting the prognosis of patients with HCC.


METHODS
A total of 371 patients with HCV infection (258 men and 113 women; median age, 66 years; range, 37-88 years) who developed HCC between January 1993 and December 1999 were enrolled. Overall survival and recurrence-free survival were analysed with the Cox proportional hazard regression according to HCV genotype (type 1 versus type 2) and virus load (above versus below 100 kIU/ml).


RESULTS
Of the 371 patients, 346 received locoregional treatments (ethanol injection, microwave, radiofrequency, or surgery), and 307 achieved complete response as determined by subsequent imaging studies. The remaining 25 patients underwent arterial embolization or chemotherapy. Cox proportional hazard regression showed that neither genotype (P = 0.814) nor virus load (P = 0.958) were significant predictors for survival (P = 0.814 and 0.958, respectively) and recurrence (P = 0.505 and 0.736, respectively).


CONCLUSIONS
Neither genotype nor virus load of HCV affected prognosis of HCC patients.
Akamatsu
Masatoshi
M
Department of Gastroenterology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
Yoshida
Haruhiko
H
Shiina
Shuichiro
S
Teratani
Takuma
T
Tateishi
Ryosuke
R
Obi
Shuntaro
S
Sato
Shinpei
S
Koike
Yukihiro
Y
Fujishima
Tomonori
T
Ishikawa
Takashi
T
Shiratori
Yasushi
Y
Omata
Masao
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality* / Q000628:therapy / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D015996:Survival Rate; D019562:Viral Load