Purpose: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a crucial risk factor in the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Antiviral therapy is very important for patients with HBV-related HCC. To maintain undetectable level of HBV DNA, patients must take nucleos(t)ide analogues (NUCs) appropriately and regularly. We explored the adherence of Chinese patients with HBV-related HCC to antiviral treatment.
Patients and Methods: One-hundred and eighty-one patients were included in a cross-sectional study between August 2020 and February 2021. A structured questionnaire was used to interview patients, and a form was applied to collect data from electronic medical records. Medication adherence was measured using a visual analog scale. Data of the adherent group and non-adherent group were compared using Student’s t-test and the chi-square test. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed to explore independent risk factors that affected adherence behavior.
Results: High adherence was reported in 46.4% of patients with HBV-related HCC. Patients with high adherence were more likely to be women (P = 0.02), shun alcohol (P = 0.01), take NUCs other than entecavir (P = 0.04), and pay attention to their titer of HBV DNA (P = 0.05). Sex, alcohol consumption, and taking entecavir were independent risk factors for low adherence (P < 0.05). The prevalence of virological breakthrough was lower in patients who adhered to NUC therapy than in those who did not, but the difference was not significant (P = 0.31).
Conclusion: The adherence of patients with HBV-related HCC to NUC therapy was low. More attention should be paid to adherence of antiviral therapy in patients with HBV-related HCC.
Keywords: hepatocellular carcinoma, chronic hepatitis B, adherence, nucleos(t)ide analogs, virological breakthrough