Effect of antiviral therapy on 3-year recurrence and prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma after curative radiofrequency ablation

Figure 1 Flowchart of patient enrollment and exclusion. This flowchart outlines the enrollment and exclusion process for patients with hepatitis B virus-related cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma who received radiofrequency ablation at Tianjin Third Central Hospital from August 2018 to December 2020. HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; ETV: Entecavir; TDF: Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate; TAF: Tenofovir alafenamide fumarate; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; TACE: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization.

Figure 2 Kaplan-Meier curves of recurrence-free survival and overall survival in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis-related hepatocellular carcinoma after curative radiofrequency ablation. A: 6-month recurrence-free survival (RFS) curves among entecavir (ETV), tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF), and tenofovir alafenamide fumarate (TAF) groups (log-rank test, P = 0.750), showing no significant difference in early recurrence risk (without adjusting for confounding factors); B: 12-month RFS curves among the three groups (log-rank test, P = 0.013), with TDF/TAF groups exhibiting higher RFS probabilities than ETV group (without adjusting for confounding factors); C: 24-month RFS curves among the three groups (log-rank test, P = 0.002), confirming persistent recurrence-reducing effects of TDF/TAF (without adjusting for confounding factors); D: 36-month RFS curves among the three groups (log-rank test, P = 0.008), indicating TDF/TAF are associated with lower long-term recurrence rates vs ETV (without adjusting for confounding factors); E: 36-month overall survival (OS) curves among the three groups (log-rank test, P = 0.790), with no significant difference in long-term OS. ETV: Entecavir; TDF: Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate; TAF: Tenofovir alafenamide fumarate; Anti-HBV: Anti-hepatitis B virus.