Antiviral therapy improves postoperative survival in elderly HBV-related HCC patients: a propensity score analysis

Purpose We investigated the effects of postoperative adjuvant antiviral therapy (AVT) in elderly patients following curative treatment for hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods A total of 300 elderly patients (≥ 65 years) with HBV-related HCC were recruited, which comprised 123 non-AVT group and 177 AVT group. Propensity score matching (PSM) was developed to reduce any bias in patient selection. Independent risk factors were identified by Cox regression analysis. Results After PSM, the 1-, 3-, and 5-year overall survival rates in the AVT group and non-AVT group were 97.5%, 76.0%, 55.0%, and 83.5%, 60.1%, 40.9%, (p = 0.003), respectively. Multivariate Cox analysis revealed that postoperative adjuvant AVT was the independent protective factor associated with mortality (HR = 0.46, 95%CI = 0.31–0.68, p < 0.001). Conclusions Among patients who underwent curative hepatectomy for elderly HBV-related HCC, postoperative adjuvant AVT can improve long-term survival and was the independent protective factor associated with survival.