Lower Incidence of HCC and Other Major Adverse Liver Outcomes in People Living With HIV and Chronic Liver Disease

TL;DR

People with HIV and chronic liver disease have a lower risk of serious liver outcomes, including liver cancer, compared to those without HIV.

Contribution

This study identifies a protective association between HIV and reduced risk of major adverse liver outcomes in patients with chronic liver disease.

Findings

PLWH with CLD had a lower incidence rate of MALO (5.1 per 1000 person-years) compared to non-HIV patients (13.1 per 1000 person-years).

Adjusted hazard ratio for hepatocellular carcinoma was 0.61 in PLWH compared to non-HIV patients.

The 10-year cumulative incidence of MALO was 5.0% in PLWH versus 10.9% in non-HIV patients.

Abstract

People living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH) show a high incidence of chronic liver disease (CLD). However, whether HIV is associated with major adverse liver outcomes (MALO) in patients with underlying CLD remains to be determined.

In this population-based cohort study, data were retrieved from the Swedish National Patient Register to identify PLWH and CLD (n = 2375) or CLD without HIV (n = 144,346) between 1997 and 2020. The cumulative incidence of MALO was calculated while accounting for competing risks (non-MALO death). Incidence rates per 1000 person-years were compared between the exposure groups (HIV vs no HIV) with Cox regression to estimate adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

The incidence rate per 1000 person-years of MALO was lower in PLWH (5.1, 95% CI 4.2–6.1) compared to patients without HIV (13.1, 95% CI 12.9–13.3). This translated into an adjusted HR of 0.77 (95% CI 0.64–0.93), driven by a lower rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (adjusted HR = 0.61, 95% CI 0.43–0.86). Consistent results were noted across a range of subgroup analyses. The 10-year cumulative incidence of MALO was lower in PLWH (5.0%, 95% CI 4.1–6.1) than in patients without HIV (10.9%, 95% CI 10.7–11.0).

Among patients with CLD, the risk of MALO was lower in PLWH compared to those without HIV, primarily due to a lower incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma. These results suggest that HIV is not associated with a higher risk of MALO.

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