Impact of Pegylated Interferon Therapy on Outcomes of Patients with Hepatitis C Virus-Related Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Curative Hepatic Resection

Several published reports investigating the effects of interferon (IFN) therapy on survival and tumor recurrence after curative resection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) have been inconclusive. The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of pegylated-IFN (peg-IFN) therapy after curative hepatic resection for HCC in patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV). Data from 175 patients who underwent curative hepatic resection for HCC associated with HCV were retrospectively collected and analyzed; 75 patients received peg-IFN therapy after surgery, whereas 100 patients did not receive IFN therapy. To overcome biases resulting from the different distribution of covariates in the two groups, a one-to-one match was created using propensity score analysis. After matching, patient outcomes were analyzed. After one-to-one matching, patients (n = 38) who received peg-IFN therapy after surgery and patients (n = 38) who did not receive IFN therapy had the same preoperative and operative characteristics. The 3- and 5-year overall survival rates of patients who received peg-IFN therapy after hepatic resection were significantly higher than those of patients who did not receive IFN therapy (P = 0.00135). The 3- and 5-year overall survival rates were 100 and 91.7% and 76.6 and 50.6% in the peg-IFN group and non-IFN group, respectively. There was no significant difference in disease-free survival between the two matched groups (P = 0.886). Peg-IFN therapy may be effective as an adjuvant chemopreventive agent after hepatic resection in patients with HCV-related HCC.