Postoperative adjuvant interferon therapy for hepatitis B virus infected hepatocellular carcinoma: a Meta-analysis

Objective To assess the efficacy of postoperative adjuvant interferon (IFN) therapy on patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Methods An electronic search for articles published from January 2000 to January 2013 was conducted to identify English language comparative studies evaluating IFN therapy on recurrence and survival after surgical treatment of HCC.Results A total of five trials consisting of 694 patients were included in the Meta-analysis.The estimated odds ratios (OR) for the 1-,2-,3-,and 5-year overall survival rates of HBV-related HCC were 3.37 (95％CI:1.18-6.27,P=0.000),2.36 (95％ CI:1.45-3.83,P=0.001),1.81 (95％ CI:1.21-2.72,P=0.004),and 1.93 (95％ CI:1.35-2.75,P=0.000),respectively.The OR for the 1-,2-,3-,and 5-year recurrence rates were 0.63 (95％ CI:0.44-0.91,P=0.014),0.84 (95％ CI:0.60-1.18,P=0.322),0.88 (95％ CI:0.63-1.22,P=0.431),and 0.78 (95％ CI:0.56-1.07,P=0.120),respectively.Conclusion This Meta-analysis shows that IFN therapy had a significant clinical effect in improving overall survival rates but not in decreasing recurrence rates of HBV infected HCC patients postoperatively. Key words: Hepatocellular carcinoma;  Interferon;  Surgery;  Recurrence rate;  Overall survival rate