Risk factors for the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 818 patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B treated with nucleos(t)ide analogue(s) therapy starting with lamivudine monotherapy. Results of univariable Cox regression analyses
| Risk factor | Chronic hepatitis B only | Cirrhosis | All patients | |||
| HR (95% CI) | p Value | HR (95% CI) | p Value | HR (95% CI) | p Value | |
| Age, per year | 1.10 (1.05 to 1.15) | <0.001 | 1.06 (1.02 to 1.11) | 0.007 | 1.10 (1.07 to 1.13) | <0.001 |
| Age | ||||||
| <50 years | 1 | 1 | 0.003 | |||
| 50–60 years | 11.00 (1.38 to 87.95) | 0.024 | 1* | 20.51 (2.73 to 154.08) | <0.001 | |
| >60 years | 22.24 (2.87 to 172.36) | 0.003 | 2.88 (1.17 to 7.08) | 0.021 | 44.38 (6.05 to 325.61) | |
| Gender | ||||||
| Female | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Male | 3.74 (0.87 to 16.13) | 0.077 | 1.53 (0.52 to 4.53) | 0.440 | 1.99 (0.93 to 4.25) | 0.076 |
| ALT, per 10 IU/l | 1.00 (0.98 to 1.02) | 0.922 | 0.95 (0.90 to 1.01) | 0.109 | 0.99 (0.96 to 1.01) | 0.295 |
| AST, per 10 IU/l | 1.01 (0.99 to 1.03) | 0.412 | 0.96 (0.90 to 1.04) | 0.301 | 1.00 (0.97 to 1.03) | 0.985 |
| Bilirubin, per mg/dl | 0.95 (0.59 to 1.54) | 0.843 | 0.98 (0.86 to 1.12) | 0.777 | 0.99 (0.88 to 1.11) | 0.833 |
| Albumin, per g/dl | 0.83 (0.41 to 1.72) | 0.621 | 0.55 (0.26 to 1.15) | 0.114 | 0.59 (0.35 to 0.99) | 0.044 |
| Haemoglobin, per g/dl | 0.79 (0.58 to 1.06) | 0.112 | 0.70 (0.52 to 0.93) | 0.015 | 0.71 (0.58 to 0.87) | 0.001 |
| Platelet count, per 109/l | 0.90 (0.81 to 0.99) | 0.026 | 1.02 (0.94 to 1.10) | 0.664 | 0.94 (0.88 to 1.00) | 0.039 |
| HBV DNA, per 103 IU/ml | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.00) | 0.940 | 0.99 (1.00 to 1.01) | 0.817 | 1.00 (0.99 to 1.00) | 0.786 |
| IFNα in the past | ||||||
| Yes | 1 | 0.980 | 1 | 0.252 | 1 | 0.273 |
| No | 1.01 (0.41 to 2.48) | 1.74 (0.68 to 4.46) | 1.41 (0.76 to 2.59) | |||
| Liver disease severity | NA | – | ||||
| Chronic hepatitis B only | 1 | |||||
| Compensated cirrhosis | 1 | 2.62 (1.34 to 5.11) | 0.005 | |||
| Decompensated cirrhosis | 2.12 (0.86 to 5.24) | 0.105 | 5.99 (2.51 to 14.29) | <0.001 | ||
| Virological remission under therapy | ||||||
| Yes | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||
| No | 5.14 (0.69 to 38.47) | 0.111 | 0.64 (0.26 to 1.58) | 0.331 | 2.04 (0.49 to 8.33) | 0.322 |
↵* In cirrhotic patients, cases ≤60 years were grouped together, as there was no HCC in cases <50 years and therefore HR with 95% CI could not be reliably estimated.
ALT, alanine aminotransferase; AST, aspartate aminotransferase; HBV, hepatitis B virus; IFNα, interferon α; NA, not applicable.