Impact of hepatitis C cure on risk of mortality and morbidity in people with HIV after antiretroviral therapy initiation

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in people with HIV (PWH). Sustained virological response (SVR) decreases the risk of HCV-associated morbidity. We compared mortality, risk of AIDS-defining events, and non-AIDS nonliver (NANL) cancers between HCV-co-infected PWH who reached SVR and mono-infected PWH. Adult PWH from 21 cohorts in Europe and North America that collected HCV treatment data were eligible if they were HCV-free at the time of ART initiation. Up to 10 mono-infected PWH were matched (on age, sex, date of ART start, HIV acquisition route, and being followed at the time of SVR) to each HCV-co-infected PWH who reached SVR. Cox models were used to estimate relative hazards (hazard ratio) of all-cause mortality, AIDS-defining events, and NANL cancers after adjustment. Among 62 495 PWH, 2756 acquired HCV, of whom 649 reached SVR. For 582 of these, at least one mono-infected PWH could be matched, producing a total of 5062 mono-infected PWH. The estimated hazard ratios comparing HCV-co-infected PWH who reached SVR with mono-infected PWH were 0.29 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.12-0.73] for mortality, 0.85 [0.42-1.74] for AIDS-defining events, and 1.21 [0.86-1.72] for NANL cancer. PWH who reached SVR a short time after HCV acquisition were not at higher risk of overall mortality compared with mono-infected PWH. However, the apparent higher risk of NANL cancers in HCV-co-infected PWH who reached SVR after a DAA-based treatment compared with mono-infected PWH, though compatible with a null association, suggests a need for monitoring of those events following SVR.