[Oral nucleos(t)ide analogues antiviral therapy reduces HBV-related HCC: consensus and contention].

Abstract

Patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who cannot receive effective antiviral therapy timely will eventually develop liver cirrhosis and/or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Therefore, receiving nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) therapy can effectively inhibit hepatitis B virus (HBV) replication, improve liver tissue inflammation and fibrosis, prevent or delay the disease progression, and greatly reduce the occurrence of HBV-related HCC. However, it is often found in clinical practice that some patients treated with long-term NAs therapy can still develop HCC despite the effective inhibition of HBV replication. This phenomenon has attracted widespread concern and discussion. In this article, we focus on whether NAs can significantly reduce the occurrence of HCC while effectively inhibiting HBV replication, or HCC can still occur. Additionally, discuss the possible causes of HCC after NAs therapy, including the types of drugs, treatment timing, incomplete response, etc., in order to help clinicians implement antiviral treatment more accurately, and further reduce HBV-related HCC.