Papatheodoridi M, Su TH, Hadziyannis E, et al. - In non-cirrhotic HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHBe−) patients, discontinuation of effective long-term nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) therapy was not related to elevated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk, which was not influenced by post-NA relapses and/or HBsAg loss.

• A total of 650 patients with CHBe− without a history of HCC who stopped NAs after a median of 5 or 3 years (cases, n = 325; Caucasians: 143, Asians: 182) or continued NA therapy beyond 5 or 3 years (controls, n = 325; Caucasians: 223, Asians: 102) were included.

• A median follow-up of 44 months revealed occurrence of HCC in 7/325 cases and 9/325 controls or 7/245 propensity score (PS)-matched cases and 7/245 PS-matched controls; 5-year cumulative HCC incidence was 5.1% and 4.9% respectively.

• Five-year HCC risk did not differ between cases and controls of Caucasian (3.0% vs 4.8%) or Asian origin (1.3% vs 2.2%).

• Independent association of HCC incidence with age and PAGE-B score was seen in both cases and controls.