DAA Use Significantly Improved Survival Rates in Liver Transplant Recipients With HCV

One-year survival rates among liver transplant (LT) recipients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) have increased significantly in the era of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) agents, according to a recent study.

Findings from the study were presented at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Liver Meeting 2017, which is taking place from October 20 to 24, 2017, in Washington, DC.

Little is known about the rates of survival in LT recipients with HCV in the era of DAA agents.

For their study, the researchers assessed short-term (1-year) survival rates in 11,223 LT recipients with HCV without hepatocellular carcinoma. Patient data were obtained from the United Network for Organ Sharing database from 2010 to 2016.

Survival rates following LT during the DAA era (after 2014) were compared with those of the pre-DAA era (before 2014) using Kaplan-Meier analysis. Pre-DAA era LT recipients with 1-year follow-up that overlapped into the DAA era were censored. Patients from both eras were matched, and results were adjusted for recipient age, gender, ethnicity, cole ischemia time (CIT), and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) score at the time of LT.

From 2010 to 2016, the survival rate among LT recipients at 1-year post-LT was 90.1%  Survival rates had increased significantly from the pre-DAA era (89.5%) to the DAA era (92.1%).

In 2016, the 1-year survival rate rose to 92.5% (an increase of 5.3% from the pre-DAA era). Furthermore, CIT and MELD scores during the DAA era were associated with significantly improved 1-year survival rates following LT, even after adjustment for recipient and donor characteristics.

“We report improvement in one-year short-term survival rate in LT recipients with HCV during the DAA era,” the researchers concluded. “Future studies with longer follow-up are needed to confirm these encouraging data.”

—Christina Vogt

Reference:

Cholankeril G, Li AA, Yoo ER, Gonzalez SA, Younossi ZM, Ahmed A. Improved short-term survival in HCV patients following liver transplantation in the era of direct acting antiviral agents. Paper presented at: AASLD The Liver Meeting 2017; October 20-24, 2017; Washington DC. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hep.29500/epdf.