Thrombospondin 2 as a Predictive Biomarker for HCC in Hepatitis C Patients: A Longitudinal Study Following DAA Therapy

ABSTRACT

This multicentre study investigated the dynamics of thrombospondin 2 (TSP2) levels during direct‐acting antiviral (DAA) therapy in hepatitis C virus (HCV) infected patients and evaluated TSP2's potential as a predictive marker for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). All 134 participants achieved sustained virological response at 12 weeks (SVR12) with DAA therapy, and serum TSP2 levels significantly decreased from before and after treatment (p < 0.001). During the median follow‐up period of 6.0 years, HCC after DAA therapy was observed in 16 patients (11.9%). Patients with serum TSP2 High (≥ 32 ng/mL) at SVR12 had a significantly higher cumulative occurrence of HCC than did those without (26.5% vs. 7.0%, p = 0.0033). A multivariate Cox proportional hazards model identified male gender (HR 4.84, p = 0.005), HCC history (HR 4.61, p = 0.017) and TSP2 High (HR 3.93, p = 0.009) as significant independent predictors of HCC occurrence after DAA therapy. The model had a high concordance index of 0.878. Additionally, combining TSP2 High and FIB‐4 High (≥ 3.538) at SVR12 yielded high specificity and negative predictive value (0.941 and 0.917, respectively) for predicting HCC. Kaplan–Meier analysis showed a higher HCC incidence in the TSP2 High + FIB‐4 High group (log‐rank p < 0.0001). In conclusion, TSP2 may be a promising biomarker for personalised HCC surveillance in DAA‐treated hepatitis C patients.