Published online Aug 14, 2026. doi: 10.3748/wjg.117164
Revised: February 3, 2026
Accepted: March 6, 2026
Published online: August 14, 2026
Processing time: 235 Days and 9.7 Hours
The management of chronic hepatitis C, particularly focusing on patient follow-up after hepatitis C virus (HCV) cure, has been extensively documented. da Silva et al recently evaluated the prognostic value of liver stiffness measurements and the fibrosis-4 index at baseline and 1 year after HCV therapy with direct-acting antiviral. They aimed to predict hepatocellular carcinoma occurrence in patients with compensated advanced chronic liver disease who achieved a sustained viral response. This editorial comments on an article by da Silva et al published in a recent issue of the World Journal of Gastroenterology. We discuss da Silva et al’s work in the context of patients who have recovered from hepatitis C, highlighting the current knowledge in the field and providing guidance. Articles from the Google Scholar database, PubMed, European Association for the Study of Liver and American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases guidelines, and other relevant databases and studies were used in this study.
Core Tip: This editorial comments on the work of da Silva et al to expand knowledge in the related research field on three subtopics: The concept of hepatitis C recovered patients, the place of non-invasive tests (NITs), including fibroscan and fibrosis-4, in the management of these patients, and future research directions. While this editorial comments on the interesting work of da Silva et al, it relies on the concept of patients recovering after direct-acting antiviral treatment, the relevance of NITs, and the pathobiology of the hepatitis C virus in the management of this disease. The latter supports the concept of patients recovering after hepatitis C virus eradication because the disappearance of the hepatitis C virus does not rule out the progression of liver fibrosis or hepatocellular carcinoma.