Timing of lamivudine administration according to Child class in patients with decompensated cirrhosis

Reversion of disease manifestations after HCV eradication

Chronic infection with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) may lead to hepatic fibrosis and eventually cirrhosis, at which stage, patients have a substantial risk of liver failure, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver-related death. Moreover, HCV infection is associated with several extrahepatic manifestations which impact the quality of life and increase the non-liver-related mortality rate. For patients with compensated liver disease, interferon (IFN)-based antiviral therapy has been a treatment option for over two decades. Long-term follow-up studies indicated that among those with sustained virological response (SVR) the extend of hepatic fibrosis can regress and that their risk of cirrhosis-related complications (including HCC) is reduced, also in case of cirrhosis. Recent population-based studies extended these observations for solid extrahepatic outcomes, such as end-stage renal failure and cardiovascular events. Most importantly, SVR has been associated with prolonged overall survival. These results highlight the importance of the development of new direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), by which almost all patients are able to eradicate HCV in a comfortable manner. Based on the excellent first experiences with the DAAs, physicians gained confidence to use these drugs among patients with decompensated cirrhosis on a more regular basis as well. This was not possible with interferon therapy. Also in this high risk population the DAAs show high SVR rates with improvements in biochemical parameters of liver function shortly after therapy, especially in case of SVR. In fact, some patients could actually be removed from the liver transplantation waiting list due to clinical improvement following DAA therapy. How these short-term results translate into a prolonged (long-term) survival has yet to be determined, as well as which patients with decompensated liver disease are likely or not to benefit from viral eradication. Here we review the current data regarding the beneficial clinical outcome with antiviral therapy as well the remaining uncertainties in this field, both for patients with compensated liver disease and patients with decompensated liver disease.

Benefits of nucleos(t)ide analog treatments for hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis

Chronic hepatitis B infection induces progressive liver disease. Before nucleos(t)ide analogs (NUCs) became established as a safe and effective treatment for hepatitis B, it was difficult to suppress the activity of the hepatitis B virus (HBV). Currently, many patients with hepatitis or cirrhosis associated with HBV are treated with NUCs for an extended period of time, and the effects, benefits, and limitations of these treatments have been apparent. This article reviews HBV-related cirrhosis, its natural course and survival, histological improvement after NUC treatments, treatment effects for decompensated cirrhosis, the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after NUC treatments, and the efficacy of NUC treatments before and after the treatment of patients for HBV-related HCC. Of particular interest are the histological improvements, including regression of fibrosis, that have been achieved with NUC treatments. Liver function of patients with decompensated cirrhosis has significantly improved regardless of the type of NUC applied, and treatment with NUCs has reduced the incidence of HCC in cirrhotic patients. However, cirrhosis remains the strongest risk factor for HCC occurrence following NUC treatments, and the long-term cumulative incidence of HCC after NUC treatments remains high. When recurrence does occur, it is important to reconsider the treatment modality according to the degree of improved liver function that was achieved.

Long-term effect of antiviral therapy on disease course after decompensation in patients with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis

The effect of viral suppression on long-term disease outcome after decompensation in patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related cirrhosis has not been established. The aim of this study was to determine the long-term effect of antiviral therapy (AVT) in patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis. This was a multicenter, prospective, inception cohort study of 707 patients who presented with first-onset decompensated complications, including 284 untreated and 423 antiviral-treated patients (58 previously treated, 253 with early treatment, and 112 with delayed treatment). The primary endpoint was 5-year liver transplantation (LT)-free survival. Secondary endpoints included virological response (VR) and serological response and improvement in liver function. Despite baseline high HBV activity and worse liver function, antiviral-treated patients had significantly better transplant-free survival than untreated patients (5-year survival rates of 59.7% vs. 46.0%, respectively), with more apparent benefits from antivirals in Child-Turcotte-Pugh class B/C and high-viremia groups. The rate of VR and hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion at 5 years in antiviral-treated patients was 14.2% and 49.1%, respectively. A significant improvement in liver function was observed in treated versus untreated patients, with 33.9% of treated patients delisted for LT. Patients with early treatment had better clinical outcomes than those with delayed treatment. Survival was dependent on antiviral response, being significantly better in responders than in nonresponders or untreated cases. The initial benefit of AVT was negated over time in nonresponders. Antiviral treatment and maintained VR remained independently predictive of survival. The study results were corroborated by propensity score-matching analysis.

CONCLUSION

AVT significantly modifies the natural history of decompensated cirrhosis, improving liver function and increasing survival. The results underscore the importance of promptly administering potent antiviral drugs to patients under consideration for LT.

Rescue therapy with adefovir in decompensated liver cirrhosis patients with lamivudine-resistant hepatitis B virus

Background/Aims

Adefovir dipivoxil (ADV) is a nucleotide analogue that is effective against lamivudine-resistant hepatitis B virus (HBV). The aim of this study was to determine the long-term clinical outcomes after ADV rescue therapy in decompensated patients infected with lamivudine-resistant HBV.

Methods

In total, 128 patients with a decompensated state and lamivudine-resistant HBV were treated with ADV at a dosage of 10 mg/day for a median of 33 months in this multicenter cohort study.

Results

Following ADV treatment, 86 (72.3%) of 119 patients experienced a decrease in Child-Pugh score of at least 2 points, and the overall end-stage liver disease score decreased from 16±5 to 14±10 (mean ± SD, P<0.001) during the follow-up period. With ADV treatment, 67 patients (56.3%) had undetectable serum HBV DNA (detection limit, 0.5 pg/mL). Virologic breakthrough occurred in 38 patients (36.1%) and 9 patients had a suboptimal ADV response. The overall survival rate was 89.9% (107/119), and a suboptimal response to ADV treatment was associated with both no improvement in Child-Pugh score (≥2 points; P=0.001) and high mortality following ADV rescue therapy (P=0.012).

Conclusions

Three years of ADV treatment was effective and safe in decompensated patients with lamivudine-resistant HBV.

Hepatitis B virus-related decompensated liver cirrhosis: benefits of antiviral therapy

Following development of liver cirrhosis in patients with chronic hepatitis B, liver disease may continue to progress and decompensation or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) may occur, especially in those with active viral replication. Decompensation may manifest with jaundice, ascites, variceal bleeding or hepatic encephalopathy. Earlier studies have shown that the prognosis of decompensated cirrhosis is usually poor with a 5-year survival rate at 14-35% under conventional standard of care. The approval of oral antiviral agents has greatly improved the prognosis, as demonstrated in several cohort studies and randomized clinical trials involving therapy with lamivudine, adefovir dipivoxil, entecavir, telbivudine, or tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. Oral antiviral agents are effective in restoring liver function and improving survival in patients with decompensated cirrhosis especially if therapy is initiated early enough. These agents are generally well tolerated without significant side effects. However, their preventive effect in HCC development has yet to be convincingly demonstrated. Given their known resistance profiles, entecavir and tenofovir should be considered as the first-line therapy for patients with HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis.

Comparison of the efficacies of lamivudine versus entecavir in patients with hepatitis B virus-related decompensated cirrhosis

BACKGROUND

Suppression of hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA is more potent, and occurrence of resistant strain is rare with entecavir than lamivudine, but whether these merits result in a more favourable outcome in HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis patients is unclear.

AIMS

To compare virologic response, changes in liver function, clinical course and predictive factors for early mortality after treatment between patients treated with lamivudine and those with entecavir in HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis patients.

METHODS

HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis patients [Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) score ≥ 7] treated with either lamivudine or entecavir were enrolled. Serum HBV DNA levels, CTP score and Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score were monitored every 3 months.

RESULTS

Eighty-six patients were enrolled; mean age was 54 ± 11 years, and 63 (73.3%) patients were men; 41 (47.7%) and 45 (52.3%) patients were assigned to the lamivudine group and entecavir group respectively. Although suppression of serum HBV DNA level was more potent in the entecavir group, CTP or MELD scores during the course of treatment did not differ between the two groups. Similarly, 6-month survival rates did not differ between the two groups (95.1 vs 93.2%, P = 0.684). Baseline CTP score and MELD score at 3 months of treatment were significantly associated with 6-month mortality. The 6- and 12-month mortality rates for patients with baseline CTP score ≥ 11 and MELD score ≥ 17.5 after 3 months of treatment were 42.9 and 61.9% respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Although HBV DNA suppression was more potent in the entecavir group than the lamivudine group, early mortality rates did not differ between the two groups. The baseline CTP score and MELD score 3 months after initiating antiviral treatment were significant predictors of early mortality.

Postoperative adjuvant antiviral therapy for hepatitis B/C virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta-analysis

AIM: To investigate the impact of postoperative antiviral treatment on tumor recurrence and survival of patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection-related primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after curative therapy.

METHODS: We performed a meta-analysis of randomized and non-randomized control trials from electronic search and manual search. The fixed effect model of Mantel-Haenszel method and the random effect model of Der Simonian and Laird method were used for homogeneous and heterogeneous studies, respectively. Seven HCV-related studies, three HBV-related studies and three studies on HBV or HCV-related HCC were identified.

RESULTS: A total of 1224 patients were included in this analysis. The estimated odds ratios (OR) for the 1-, 2-, 3- and 5-year recurrence were 0.54 [15.4% vs 24.1%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.32-0.89, P = 0.02], 0.42 (36.9% vs 58.0%, 95% CI: 0.19-0.90, P = 0.03), 0.37 (47.9% vs 63.8%, 95% CI: 0.19-0.71, P = 0.003), and 0.32 (66.7% vs 74.3%, 95% CI: 0.15-0.66, P = 0.002), respectively; and the OR for the 1-, 2-, 3-, 5- and 7-year mortality were 0.23 (1.2% vs 9.1%, 95% CI: 0.07-0.71, P = 0.01), 0.31 (6.4% vs 22.1%, 95% CI: 0.12-0.79, P = 0.01), 0.43 (12.7% vs 20.8%, 95% CI: 0.21-0.89, P = 0.02), 0.42 (25.1% vs 42.0%, 95% CI: 0.27-0.66, P = 0.0002) and 0.28 (31.9% vs 52.2%, 95% CI: 0.13-0.59, P = 0.0008).

CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis indicates the postoperative antiviral therapy, interferon in particular, may serve as a favorable alternative to reduce recurrence and mortality in patients with HBV/HCV related HCCs.

Efficacy of entecavir in treatment-naïve patients with hepatitis B virus-related decompensated cirrhosis

BACKGROUND & AIMS

The effect of entecavir (ETV) therapy on viral suppression and hepatic function in hepatitis B virus (HBV) patients with decompensated cirrhosis has not been established. We evaluated ETV as first-line monotherapy in these patients.

METHODS

We consecutively enrolled 70 HBV-infected patients with decompensated cirrhosis primarily treated with 0.5mg/day ETV, and evaluated the clinical outcomes by intention-to-treat analyses. We also compared the virological responses of 55 patients treated for 12 months (decompensated group) with those of 144 chronic hepatitis or compensated cirrhosis patients (compensated group).

RESULTS

The cumulative transplantation-free survival was 87.1% at 1year. ETV treatment for 12 months resulted in improved Child-Turcotte-Pugh (CTP) and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) scores. Sixty-six percent (36/55) of patients achieved CTP class A and 49% (27/55) showed improvement in the CTP score of 2 points after 12 months of ETV. The 1-year cumulative rates of HBV DNA negativity and HBeAg loss were 92.3% and 54.0%, respectively, by intention-to-treat analysis. The rates of HBV DNA negativity, HBeAg seroconversion/loss and ALT normalization at month 12 were similar for the decompensated and compensated groups. Cox regression analysis showed that pretreatment HBeAg seropositivity was a negative predictor of HBV DNA clearance during ETV therapy (hazard ratio, 0.514; 95% confidence interval 0.367-0.719; p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

One-year initial ETV therapy was similarly effective in both compensated and decompensated liver disease HBV patients. In addition, it improved underlying liver function in decompensated patients.

Decision analysis model for hepatitis B prophylaxis one year after liver transplantation

In patients receiving orthotopic liver transplantation, hepatitis B recurrence rates have decreased significantly with the use of various methods for prophylaxis. At present, a combination of hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) and lamivudine is the standard of care, resulting in recurrence rates of 0% to 11%. Recent data suggest that the addition of adefovir to lamivudine is successful in treating patients with recurrent hepatitis B infection. A Markov model was used to compare costs and outcomes of 2 strategies for hepatitis B prophylaxis 1 year after transplantation. The first consisted of prophylaxis with lamivudine and adefovir (strategy 1), whereas the second consisted of intramuscular HBIG and lamivudine (strategy 2) with the addition of adefovir in patients who subsequently developed hepatitis B recurrence. Patients who failed with adefovir and lamivudine were then treated with tenofovir and entecavir. 16.8% of liver transplant recipients had hepatitis B recurrence after 10 years of treatment with lamivudine and HBIG. The medical costs for strategy 1 and strategy 2 after 10 years of therapy were $151,819 and $166,246, respectively, and this resulted in cost savings of $14,427. The decision analysis model began 1 year after liver transplantation. A 1-way sensitivity analysis demonstrated that the model was most sensitive to cost changes of adefovir and HBIG injections as well as variations in the hepatitis B virus recurrence rate. The model was robust to costs of lamivudine, laboratory costs, administrative fees, and office visit fees. Our decision analysis model resulted in marked savings in costs with strategy 1 (lamivudine and adefovir), providing pharmacoeconomic support for the use of this strategy as first-line therapy in hepatitis B prophylaxis in liver transplant recipients 1 year after liver transplantation.

Efficacy of lamivudine on hepatitis B viral status and liver function in patients with hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND/AIMS

Treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) depends on the tumour extent and underlying liver function. Antiviral therapy with nucleoside/nucleotide analogues has been shown to be effective in improving the liver function of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. We assessed whether lamivudine could induce biochemical and virological improvements in patients with hepatitis B virus-related HCC.

PATIENTS/METHODS

Of 148 CHB patients treated with 100 mg/day lamivudine for at least 6 months, 80 had HCC (CHB/HCC group) and 68 did not (CHB group). Biochemical and virological parameters were serially monitored.

RESULTS

Compared with the CHB group, the CHB/HCC group was older, had higher male predominance, bilirubin levels and liver cirrhosis rate, and lower albumin and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels and hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positivity (P<0.05 each). The two groups showed similar cumulative rates of alanine aminotransferase normalization, HBV DNA seroconversion, HBeAg loss and viral breakthrough during 12 months of lamivudine treatment. After 12 months, the CHB/HCC group showed, relative to baseline, increased albumin levels (3.51+/-0.5 vs. 3.72+/-0.5 mg/ml) and decreased ascites scores (1.63+/-0.7 vs. 1.45+/-0.6) and Child-Pugh scores (6.92+/-1.9 vs. 6.02+/-1.38) (P<0.05 each).

CONCLUSION

Lamivudine had comparable antiviral effects both in patients with CHB and CHB/HCC, and improved underlying liver function in the latter group. Treatment of HBV may increase the chance of curative treatments in patients with HBV-related HCC.

Economic implications of entecavir treatment in suppressing viral replication in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in China from a perspective of the Chinese Social Security program

OBJECTIVES

Of estimated 112 million persons infected with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in China, 15% to 40% will eventually develop liver complications. Most patients do not actively seek antiviral agents for treatment due in part to lack of good understanding of the disease. Entecavir is a new therapeutic option for CHB patients and the purpose of this study was to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of entecavir treatment in China, based on projected clinical benefits from its superior viral suppression efficacy.

METHODS

The analysis was based on the perspective of the Chinese Social Security program. Adjusted relative risks on the association between viral load (VL) and clinical end points (liver cirrhosis/hepatocellular carcinoma) were derived from a publication of a Taiwan CHB prospective cohort with 42,115 person-years of follow-up, and applied to patients enrolled in a randomized phase III trial in China. In this trial, hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA (by polymerase chain reaction assay) was the key efficacy end point after 48 weeks of treatment with either entecavir or lamivudine monotherapy. Entecavir and lamivudine daily prices were assumed to be Renminbi Yuan (RMB) 40 and 16.71, respectively. Life expectancy tables were based on China vital statistics. Direct medical cost and utility scores for different phases of CHB were estimated from published China specific data, and costs were adjusted to 2006 values using the Chinese Consumer Price Index. Probabilistic sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate parameter uncertainty on event distribution and treatment failure rates beyond the trial period.

RESULTS

A total of 519 subjects were enrolled in the study, comprising of 82% males, 87% HBeAg+, and a mean age of 30 years. Based on the efficacy measurement of the percentage of patients achieving HBV DNA <300 copies/ml at week 48, entecavir was superior to lamivudine (78.7% vs. 46.7%, respectively [P < 0.05]). In the base case, compared with lamivudine, 1 year of entecavir therapy gained 0.305 quality-adjusted life year (QALY) at an incremental cost of 5368 RMB, with a 3% annual discount. Compared with lamivudine, using entecavir cost an incremental 17,590 RMB per QALY gained (95% CI 6333-56,407).

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the results of this study, entecavir is likely to be cost-effective in treating hepatitis B patients in China based on the World Health Organization's recommended maximum willingness to pay threshold.

Efficacy of antiviral therapy with lamivudine after initial treatment for hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma

AIM

The aim of this study was to determine whether antiviral therapy with lamivudine is beneficial in patients after initial treatment for hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

METHODS

Forty-nine consecutive patients with HBV-related HCC completely treated by hepatic resection or radiofrequency ablation were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Comparison was made between 16 patients who received lamivudine therapy at a dose of 100 mg/day after treatment for HCC (lamivudine group) and 33 patients who did not (control group) in terms of changes in remnant liver function, HCC recurrence and survival.

RESULTS

Cumulative recurrence rates of HCC did not significantly differ between the two groups (P = 0.622). However, median Child-Pugh score at the time of HCC recurrence was significantly different; 5 (range 5-6) in the lamivudine group versus 7 (range 5-12) in the control group (P = 0.005). All patients in the lamivudine group were able to receive curative treatment for recurrent HCC. In contrast, 10 of 15 patients in the control group were unable to receive curative optimal therapy for recurrent HCC due to deterioration of remnant liver function. The cumulative survival rates of patients in the lamivudine group tended to be higher than those of patients in the control group (P = 0.063).

CONCLUSION

It is suggested that lamivudine therapy is beneficial for patients after initial treatment for HBV-related HCC because it contributes to improving remnant liver function, thus decreasing the risk of liver failure and increasing the chances of receiving available treatment modalities for recurrent HCC.