Outcomes of direct-acting antivirals in patients with HCV decompensated cirrhosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BackgroundDirect-acting antivirals (DAA) are effective for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) treatment. However, their impact on overall survival (OS), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurrence, HCC-free survival, and liver function in patients with HCV decompensated cirrhosis remains uncertain. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of DAA treatment on this population.MethodsStudies were identified by searching the MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and CENTRAL databases. OS and HCC-free survival probabilities and time data were extracted from Kaplan-Meier curves. A one-stage meta-analysis using parametric Weibull regression was conducted to estimate the relative treatment effects of DAA vs. no DAA. The primary outcome was the OS rate. The secondary outcomes were HCC-free survival, HCC occurrence rate, and improvement in the Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score.ResultsEight cohorts comprising 3,430 participants (2,603 in the DAA group and 1,999 in the no-DAA group) were included. The OS probabilities at 12 and 24 months were 95 and 90% for the DAA group, respectively, compared with 89 and 80% in the no-DAA group, respectively. Hazard ratio (HR) was 0.48 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.39, 0.60; p < 0.001). The HCC-free survival probabilities at 12 and 24 months were 96 and 90%, respectively, in the former, and 94 and 85%, respectively, in the latter. The HR of HCC occurrence was 0.72 (95% CI: 0.52, 1.00; p = 0.05), which suggests that DAA treatment in decompensated cirrhosis may lead to a 28% lower risk of HCC occurrence. The mean MELD score difference was −7.75 (95% CI: −14.52, −0.98; p = 0.02).ConclusionImprovement in OS and MELD score is a long-term benefit of DAA treatment in patients with HCV decompensated cirrhosis, with a marginal effect of the treatment on HCC development

Long‐term posttransplant survival outcome following bridging locoregional therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma patients: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract Aim Liver transplantation (LT) is essential due to its curative efficacy, but liver‐graft shortages have limited its widespread application. Bridging locoregional therapy (LRT) before LT has been performed to prevent tumor progression, and a recent literature review revealed that it is associated with a nonsignificant trend toward better survival outcomes. However, much more information on bridging therapy has become available since then. This meta‐analysis aimed to compare the posttransplant survival and HCC recurrence between patients with and without pretransplant bridging LRT. Methods Studies were identified in MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and the Cochrane Library. Two independent researchers screened titles and full articles, extracted relevant data, and conducted a parametric survival analysis. Results Out of 4794 studies, 18 cohort studies were eligible. The 1‐, 3‐, and 5‐year overall survival (OS) rates were 93.1%, 85.0%, and 79.1% for those in the bridging LRT group, while they were 91.8%, 81.1%, and 75.5% for those who did not receive LRT, respectively. There were no differences in overall survival between these groups (HR 0.90; 0.78–1.05, P = 0.17). Interestingly, we discovered that bridging therapy helped prolong survival significantly in a high‐risk population with a long waiting time (HR 0.76; 0.60–0.96, P = 0.02). Unfortunately, bridging LRT did not improve disease‐free survival (HR 0.98; 0.86–1.11, P = 0.70). Conclusions The results indicate that bridging LRT does not generally change post‐LT outcomes. However, bridging LRT can significantly improve survival in patients with a long waiting time for LT