Evidence mapPaperPMID 40913340Full record

ArticleAlimentary pharmacology & therapeutics2026

Comparative Risk of Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation in Patients Receiving Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors or Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors for Liver Cancer.

Dorothy Cheuk-Yan Yiu, Jimmy Che-To Lai, Landon Long Chan, Grace Lai-Hung Wong, Mandy Sze-Man Lai, Vincent Wai-Sun Wong, Yee-Kit Tse, Henry Lik-Yuen Chan, Stephen Lam Chan, Terry Cheuk-Fung Yip

Abstract readComparative Study
In one paragraph

Article in Alimentary pharmacology & therapeutics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

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0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Dorothy Cheuk-Yan YiuDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Jimmy Che-To LaiDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5749-1598
Landon Long ChanState Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Department of Clinical Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1306-5896
Grace Lai-Hung WongDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2863-9389
Mandy Sze-Man LaiDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Vincent Wai-Sun WongDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2215-9410
Yee-Kit TseDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
Henry Lik-Yuen ChanMedical Data Analytics Centre (MDAC), The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7790-1611
Stephen Lam ChanState Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology, Department of Clinical Oncology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8998-5480
Terry Cheuk-Fung YipDepartment of Medicine and Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1819-2464

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundCurrent and past hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains the leading cause of liver cancer in endemic areas.

aimTo examine the risk of HBV reactivation (HBVr) in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) for liver cancer.

methodsPatients with current or past HBV infection receiving systemic treatments for liver cancer from March 2015 to March 2023 were identified using a territory-wide electronic database in Hong Kong. The primary outcome was HBVr in ICI compared to tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) use, defined according to the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases criteria. The secondary outcome was HBVr in different types of ICI.

resultsOne thousand five hundred and ninty-six patients with current or past HBV infection (222 first received ICI; 1374 first received TKI) were included. 205 patients (12.8%) had past HBV infection, and 93.2% of the cohort were on HBV antiviral prophylaxis at baseline. At a median of 10.7 months (IQR: 3.7-12.0), 25 (1.6%) patients had HBVr, among whom 5 were exposed to ICI. The 12-month cumulative incidence (95% CI) of HBVr of the 1596 patients was 1.7% (1.1%-2.4%). The proportion of patients experiencing HBVr with and without antiviral prophylaxis was 1.4% and 3.7%, respectively. In multivariable analysis, ICI use was not associated with a higher risk of HBVr than TKI use, and the use of different ICI did not impact the risk of HBVr.

conclusionWith adequate antiviral prophylaxis, the absolute risk of HBVr is low in advanced HBV-related liver cancer patients receiving ICI, regardless of current or past HBV infection.

Indexed as

Hepatitis BHepatitis B virusImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsLiver NeoplasmsProtein Kinase InhibitorsVirus ActivationAgedAntiviral AgentsFemaleHong KongHumansMaleMiddle AgedRetrospective StudiesRisk FactorsTyrosine Kinase InhibitorsAntiviral AgentsImmune Checkpoint InhibitorsProtein Kinase InhibitorsTyrosine Kinase Inhibitorshepatitis B reactivationhepatocellular carcinomaimmune checkpoint inhibitortyrosine kinase inhibitor

Identifiers

PMID40913340
PMCPMC12807337

What Socratic holds

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.