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World J Gastrointest Oncol. Nov 15, 2026; 18(11): 123962
Published online Nov 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123962
Published online Nov 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.123962
Interferon therapy reduces incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with high risk of hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma
Miao Hao, Chen-Rui Liu, Meng Zhang, Xia-Qing Zhou, Xin Zhang, Wen-Jun Wang, Yi-Kai Wang, Xiao-Li Jia, Ya-Ping Li, Shuang-Suo Dang, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710004, Shaanxi Province, China
Zi-Cheng Jiang, Department of Infectious Diseases, Ankang Central Hospital, Ankang 725000, Shaanxi Province, China
Xiao-Hong Gao, Department of Infectious Diseases, Affiliated Hospital to Yan’an University, Yan’an 716000, Shaanxi Province, China
Co-corresponding authors: Ya-Ping Li and Shuang-Suo Dang.
Author contributions: Hao M conceived and designed the study, collected data, drafted the manuscript, planned the study, analyzed and interpreted data and performed statistical analysis; Liu CR, Zhang M, and Zhou XQ participated in analysis of clinical data, performed statistical analysis and drafted the manuscript; Jiang ZC and Gao XH participated in data collection and consultations in liver disease; Zhang X participated in critical revision of the manuscript and funding support; Wang YK participated in study design; Wang WJ and Jia XL participated in critical revision of the manuscript, consultations; Li YP and Dang SS participated in study conception and design, study supervision, data interpretation, manuscript editing and funding support, they contributed equally to this article, they are the co-corresponding authors of this manuscript; and all authors thoroughly reviewed and endorsed the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: The authors declare that no AI tools were used in the development or writing of this manuscript and take full responsibility for its integrity, accuracy, and originality.
Supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China 2023, No. 2023YFC2308105; and Natural Science Foundation of Shaanxi Province, No. 2023-JC-YB-770.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, approval No. 2022-051.
Informed consent statement: Informed consent is waived for this retrospective study, as it involves minimal risk and obtaining consent from all participants is impracticable due to the nature of existing data.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: Data supporting the findings of this study are not publicly available due to privacy or ethical restrictions and are available upon request to the corresponding author.
Corresponding author: Shuang-Suo Dang, Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, No. 157 West 5th Road, Xi’an 710004, Shaanxi Province, China. dang212@126.com
Received: June 2, 2026
Revised: July 22, 2026
Accepted: September 1, 2026
Published online: November 15, 2026
Processing time: 147 Days and 6.4 Hours
Revised: July 22, 2026
Accepted: September 1, 2026
Published online: November 15, 2026
Processing time: 147 Days and 6.4 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Based on this observational study, we compared the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in high-risk hepatitis B virus-related HCC patients receiving interferon vs nucleoside/nucleotide analogues. For hepatitis B virus-infected individuals with high-risk factors for HCC, interferon therapy before progression to decompensated cirrhosis helps reduce the risk of HCC.