Lower liver cancer risk with antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B patients with normal to minimally elevated ALT and no cirrhosis

摘要

For chronic hepatitis B (CHB), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) >= 2 x upper limit of normal (ULN) is often used as a major criteria to initiate treatment in absence of cirrhosis, though patients with lower ALT may not be free from future risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to examine the effect of antiviral therapy on HCC incidence based on ALT levels.