Impact of viral hepatitis B status on outcomes of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: a meta-analysis

Background and aims: To estimate the impact of viral hepatitis B status on outcomes of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Methods: We searched Pubmed and Embase for original articles that evaluated the impact of hepatitis B virus infection on outcomes of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma. The present study was conducted to generate odd ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for pre-identified prognostic factors, overall survival, and recurrence.

Results: From 438 studies, we identified eight articles that compared outcomes between hepatitis B virus-infected patients and the others. In terms of clinicopathological characteristics, patients in the hepatitis B virus group significantly demonstrated single nodular tumor (OR 0.7; 95% CI 0.5-0.9; p = 0.01), infrequent lymph node metastasis (OR 0.5; 95% CI 0.3-0.6; p < 0.01), and infrequent perineural infiltration (OR 0.3; 95% CI 0.2-0.8; p < 0.01). No significant between-group differences were found in tumor diameter, vascular invasion, and tumor differentiation. Previous or temporary infection (seropositivity for hepatitis B core antibody) revealed no significant impact on clinicopathological characteristics. For survival outcomes, meta-analysis demonstrated that hepatitis B virus group had significantly better overall survival, recurrence rate, and median survival (p < 0.01).

Conclusions: Our results suggest that hepatitis B virus infection is a powerful predictor of favorable survival outcomes for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma and significantly affects clinicopathological characteristics. Viral hepatitis B status needs to be taken into account and then establish therapeutic approaches.