Prevention by Lamivudine of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients infected with hepatitis B virus.
OBJECTIVE
This study evaluated the prevention by lamivudine of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in chronic hepatitis B patients.


METHODS
Lamivudine therapy was administered to 879 of the 2,511 patients who satisfied our analysis inclusion criteria. A Cox regression model revealed that four factors increased the prevalence of HCC: gender (females; OR=0.53, p=0.006), age (>/=40 years; OR=4.64, p<0.001), platelet count (>/=100x10(3)/mm(3); OR=0.35, p<0.001), and alcohol consumption (>/=80 g/day; OR=1.79, p=0.004). Five hundred and eighty-nine patients in the lamivudine-treated group and 589 patients in the control group were selected for a matched case-control study. The mean follow-up periods were 2.8 and 5.1 years in the lamivudine-treated and control groups, respectively.


RESULTS
HCC occurred in 10 patients (1.7%) of the lamivudine group, with an incidence rate of 0.61% patients/year, and in 65 patients (11.0%) of the control group, with an incidence rate of 2.16% patients/year. The cumulative incidence of HCC was lower in the lamivudine group than in the control group (p=0.0117, log-rank test).


CONCLUSIONS
Lamivudine can reduce the incidence of HCC in patients suffering from chronic hepatitis B.
Lee
Heon Ju
HJ
Department of Internal Medicine, Yeungnam University College of Medicine, Daegu, Korea.
Eun
Ryul
R
Jang
Byung Ik
BI
Kim
Tae Nyeun
TN