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Background: Lymphoma combined with hepatitis B infection occupies a relatively higher incidence in China than that of in Europe and America.Aims: To observe the efficacy and safety of rituximab in combination with chemotherapy in patients with B-cell non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.Methods: Ninety-two B-cell lymphoma patients with HBV infection in Sichuan Cancer Hospital from January 2009 to October 2015 were divided into two groups. Patients in Group A (n = 33) were treated with rituximab combined with chemotherapy, while Group B (n = 59) accepted chemotherapy alone.Results: The effective rate (complete response + partial response) was 69.7% in Group A and 44.1% in Group B with significantly statistical difference (P = 0.018). Some of the patients got different grades of hepatic function damage during the period of chemotherapy, but there was no statistically significant difference between these two groups (P = 0.071).Conclusions: For CD20-positive NHL patients complicated with HBV infection, rituximab combined with chemotherapy modality is effective. The promise efficacy of this regimen could be achieved relying on controllable safety based on antiviral treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Glutathione-S-transferase P1 (GSTP1) methylation has been demonstrated to be associated with oxidative stress induced liver damage in acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure (ACHBLF). Aim To evaluate the methylation level of GSTP1 promoter in acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure and determine its predictive value for prognosis. Methods One hundred and five patients with acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure, 86 with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and 30 healthy controls (HC) were retrospectively enrolled. GSTP1 methylation level in peripheral mononuclear cells (PBMC) was detected by MethyLight. Clinical and laboratory parameters were obtained. Results GSTP1 methylation levels were significantly higher in patients with acute-onchronic hepatitis B liver failure (median 16.84%, interquartile range 1.83-59.05%) than those with CHB (median 1.25%, interquartile range 0.48-2.47%; P < 0.01) and HC (median 0.80%, interquartile range 0.67-1.27%; P < 0.01). In acute-onchronic hepatitis B liver failure group, nonsurvivors showed significantly higher GSTP1 methylation levels (P < 0.05) than survivors. GSTP1 methylation level was significantly correlated with total bilirubin (r = 0.29, P < 0.01), prothrombin time activity (r = -0.24, P = 0.01) and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score (r = 0.26, P = 0.01). When used to predict 1- or 2-month mortality of acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure, GSTP1 methylation showed significantly better predictive value than MELD score [area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) 0.89 vs. 0.72, P < 0.01; AUC 0.83 vs. 0.70, P < 0.05 respectively]. Meanwhile, patients with GSTP1 methylation levels above the cutoff points showed significantly poorer survival than those below (P < 0.05). Conclusions Aberrant GSTP1 promoter methylation exists in acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure and shows high predictive value for short-term mortality. It might serve as a potential prognostic marker for acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Singapore has a relative higher prevalence of Hepatitis B carriage at 3.6%. The risk of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) flare which is increased in patients receiving anthracycline chemotherapy has clinical relevance due to associated morbidity. Guidelines recommend a risk-adaptive screening strategy. This study aims to analyze the practice of HBV screening, and incidence of flare among non-metastatic breast cancer patients treated with anthracyclines. This is a retrospective review of all non-metastatic breast cancer in the Joint Breast Cancer Registry (JBCR) treated with (neo)adjuvant doxorubicin based therapy between August 2015 and December 2016, across 3 tertiary institutions in Singapore. We examined data collected prior to chemotherapy initiation regarding HBV status, including liver function (LFT), HBV surface antigen (HBsAg), antibody to HBV (Anti HBs), HBV core total antibody (Anti HBc) and HBV deoxyribonucleic levels (HBV DNA). We reviewed the course of HBV carriers (HBsAg positive) or prior HBV exposed patients (Anti HBc total positive and HBsAg negative) during chemotherapy for any HBV flare (abrupt rise of alanine aminotransferase levels to more than 5 times upper limit of normal in a carrier). 492 early breast cancer patients were examined. 484 (98.3%) had HBsAg, 159 (32.3%) had Anti HBs and 16 (3.3%) had Anti HBc performed prior to starting chemotherapy. There were 12 HBV carriers and 4 with previous HBV exposure. Among the 12 HBV carriers, 4 were on antivirals prior to the diagnosis of breast cancer, and 8 were started on antivirals following diagnosis. 1 patient received doxorubicin prior to starting antivirals and developed HBV flare after the first cycle. The patient was started on entecavir, with improvement in HBV DNA levels and LFT, and chemotherapy was resumed. Remaining carriers did not develop flares. The patients with prior HBV exposure were monitored with serial LFT, and did not develop transaminitis. Patients are almost universally screened for HBV with HBsAg prior to anthracyclines. Our data was consistent with local carriage rate. The incidence of flare is low with appropriate antiviral prophylaxis. HBsAg alone may be sufficient for screening. The authors. Has not received any funding. All authors have declared no conflicts of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The influence of viral hepatitis status on prognosis in patients undergoing hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a matter of debate. This study is a meta-analysis of the available evidence. Methods A literature search was performed to identify comparative studies reporting postoperative survival of HCC in different types of viral hepatitis. Pooled odds ratios (OR) and weighted mean differences (WMD with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated using either the fixed effects model or random effects model. Results Twenty studies matched the selection criteria and reported on 4744 subjects, of whom 2008 in the HBV-positive (B-HCC) group, 2222 in the HCV-positive (C-HCC) group, and 514 in the hepatitis B- and C-negative (NBNC-HCC). Meta-analysis showed that patients with HBV or HCV infection had a worse 5-year disease-free survival when compared to patients with NBNC-HCC (respectively: OR: 0.39, 95% CI: 0.28 to 0.53, P < 0.001; WMD: 0.37, 95% CI: 0.22 to 0.64, P < 0.001). There was a tendency toward higher 5-year overall survival rates in the NBNC-HCC group compared to those in the other two groups, although these differences were not statistically significant. Both the 5-year overall survival and disease-free survival were not different among the B-HCC and C-HCC groups. Conclusions Patients with positive serology for hepatitis B or C undergoing resection for HCC had a poor prognosis compared to patients with negative serology.