Ogawa E, Nakamuta M, Furusyo N, et al. - Among patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), prior curative and palliative treatment with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) resulted in 5-year cumulative recurrence rates of 45.4% and 65.7%, respectively. Better HCC recurrence stratification can be done by evaluating fibrosis and characteristics of the previous HCC.

• The final analysis was performed including 326 patients; median age was 74.

• The predictors of early recurrence include AFP> 7 ng/mL at 12 weeks after DAA administration, time from HCC complete response (CR) to DAA initiation (< 1 year), and the number of HCC treatments necessary to achieve CR (≥ 2).

• Along with these predictors, the following were independent predictors of late recurrence: cirrhosis, the number of HCC nodules (≥ 2), and previous palliative HCC treatment.