Efficacy of direct‐acting antiviral treatment in patients with compensated liver cirrhosis: A multicenter study

Aim Although the development of new direct‐acting antivirals (DAAs) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has markedly advanced, the effects of cirrhosis on DAA treatment remain unclear. We aimed to clarify the impact of cirrhosis on DAA treatment of patients infected with HCV. Methods This large‐scale, multicenter, retrospective study consisted of 2130 HCV genotype 1b‐infected patients who were treated with one of the following DAA combination therapies: asunaprevir/daclatasvir (ASV/DCV), ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (LDV/SOF), or paritaprevir/ombitasvir/ritonavir (PTV/OBV/r). Ninety‐two patients (4.3%) previously received DAA‐based treatment. Seven hundred and forty‐five patients (34.9%) had cirrhosis. Results Overall, the sustained virologic response (SVR) rate was 93.0%. The SVR rates in patients who received ASV/DCV, LDV/SOF, or PTV/OBV/r were 90.0%, 96.9%, and 97.6%, respectively. The SVR rate in patients with cirrhosis (89.1%) was significantly lower than that in patients without cirrhosis (95.1%, P = 6.94 × 10–7). In the multivariate analysis for the overall cohort, absence of cirrhosis (P = 1.26 × 10–3), no previous DAA‐based treatment (P = 2.54 × 10–14), low HCV‐RNA levels (P = 1.64 × 10–6), wild‐type non‐structural protein 5A L31/Y93 (P = 7.33 × 10–13), and DAA regimen (LDV/SOF or PTV/OBV/r) (P = 1.92 × 10–14) were independent factors contributing to SVR. Except for patients with DAA‐based treatment history, absence of cirrhosis (P = 2.15 × 10–3; odds ratio, 2.51) was an independent factor contributing to SVR in 2038 DAA‐naïve patients. Conclusion This study suggests that the presence of cirrhosis reduces the SVR rate of DAA treatment, regardless of the type of DAA treatment.