a comprehensive long-term prognosis of chronic hepatitis c patients with antiviral therapy: a meta-analysis of studies from 2008 to 2014

Context: attaining a sustained virological response with antiviral therapy is a sign of clinical cure for chronic hepatitis c patients. the aim of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the long-term efficiency and outcome of antiviral therapy in patients with hepatitis c who attained a sustained virological response. evidence acquisition: a literature search was performed on published articles between january 2008 and february 2014. patients with hepatitis c who received interferon with or without ribavirin therapy were enrolled. relative risks were estimated using either fixed or random effect models. results: patients who attained sustained virological response had a less risk (85%) for all-cause mortality and about 63% reduced risk of hepatocellular carcinoma incidence than those who did not achieve sustained virological response. based on deeply analysis, the stage of liver fibrosis was a risk factor at baseline for the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma. conclusions: sustained virological response can reduce all-cause mortality and the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma of patients with hepatitis c. advanced liver fibrosis is still a risk factor for the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma, in spite of hepatitis c patients attained a sustained virological response.