Effect of entecavir versus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate antiviral therapy in reducing the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis B: Reflections on a Korean retrospective study

Recently, Choi et al. published a real-world study in JAMA Oncology, which showed that there was a significant difference between the entecavir group and the tenofovir disoproxil fumarate group in reducing the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma ( HCC) in chronic hepatitis B ( CHB) patients. This result is inconsistent with the common point of view in antiviral therapy for CHB and has aroused a heated discussion in the academic world. The editorial simultaneously published in JAMA Oncology pointed out that the study by Choi et al. has certain clinical significance, but there are still many confounding factors which need to be further clarified, and therefore, the regimen of antiviral therapy for CHB patients cannot be changed based on this result. With reference to this result, this article analyzes the key influencing factors for the risk of HCC in CHB patients receiving long-term antiviral therapy with NAs.