Risk of Liver Cancer in Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B
Author Information
Author(s): Zhang Jianna, Yu Sijie, Zhu Kailu, Li Shibo, Huang Yu
Primary Institution: The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University
Hypothesis
What is the probability of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in gray-zone patients with chronic hepatitis B?
Conclusion
The gray-zone group and the GZ-B subgroup have a higher risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma.
Supporting Evidence
- 72.7% of chronic hepatitis B patients in the gray zone have significant histological disease.
- The incidence of HCC in the GZ-B subgroup was found to be the highest among the gray-zone subgroups.
- After IPTW adjustment, the GZ group had a higher risk of HCC compared to the immune-tolerant group.
Takeaway
Some people with chronic hepatitis B are in a gray area where it's unclear how sick they are, and this study found that those in this gray area can still get liver cancer.
Methodology
This study analyzed patients with chronic hepatitis B treated from January 2013 to January 2023, using inverse probability of treatment weighting to adjust for biases.
Potential Biases
Potential selection bias due to the retrospective nature of the study.
Limitations
The study is retrospective, which may introduce selection bias, and unmeasured confounding factors could affect the results.
Participant Demographics
The study included 8319 patients, with a higher proportion of males in the gray-zone group.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.0380
Confidence Interval
95% CI 0.017–0.890
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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