Hepatitis B virus infection is a prognostic biomarker for better survival in operable esophageal cancer: analysis of 2004 patients from an endemic area in China

Background:Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection has been proved to be associated with the survival of many cancers. However, the prevalence and prognostic value of HBV infection in esophageal cancer has not been investigated yet Methods:A total of 2004 consecutive esophageal cancer patients who underwent esophagectomy between 2000 and 2008 were recruited in our study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to test serum HBV markers. Patients were divided into HBsAg-positive group (HBV infection) and HBsAg-negative group. The impact of HBV infection on disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) was estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional hazard models. Results:HBV infection was found in 12.6% (253/2004) of patients. HBsAg-positive patients had significantly higher percentage of early pathological T stage, lower frequency of liver metastasis and extrahepatic metastasis than HBsAg-negative. Patients with HBsAg-positive had a favorable DFS (HR=0.79, 95%CI: 0.66-0.94, P=0.007) and OS (HR=0.80, 95%CI:0.65-0.95, P=0.020) respectively, when compared with HBsAg-negative. Subgroup analysis showed that the association with HBV infection and better DFS and OS was observed in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and advanced pathological stage (III-IV). Conclusions:HBV infection was an independent favorable prognostic factor for survival in operable esophageal cancer. Impact:our large cohort study provided more definite and quantitative evidence that HBV infection is an independent favorable prognostic biomarker in patients with esophageal cancer, especially in patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and advanced pathological stage (III-IV).