Antiviral therapy for hepatitis B-related liver cancer prevention is more cost-effective than cancer screening

Community-based prevention of hepatitis-B-related liver cancer: Australian insights

“…General practitioners are encouraged to refer the high-risk cases for specialist assessment and to continue to follow up the other cases. 8 In Phase 2, the programme's acceptability to key stakeholders was ascertained. In addition, opportunities for the education of local general practitioners and target communities about hepatitis B testing, prevention and treatment were provided.…”

“…In the model, this strategy reduced cases of cirrhosis, HCC diagnoses and hepatitis-B-related deaths over the 50 years of follow-up by 52%, 47% and 56%, respectively, at an estimated cost of 12 956 Australian dollars for each quality-adjusted life year gained. 8 As a consequence of this modelling work, the B Positive programme used the HCC-prevention approach.…”

Feasibility, acceptability and safety of a nurse led hepatitis B clinic based in the community

“…The initiative to commence this community based CHB nurse clinic is in response to the increasing burden of CHB related HCC and cirrhosis and the evidence showing the cost effectiveness of early referral, HCC surveillance and anti-viral therapy in reducing the risk of cirrhosis and HCC development (Alberti & Caporaso, 2011;Chen, Iloeje, & Yang, 2007;Kuo et al, 2010;Liaw, 2009;Lok & McMahon, 2009;Mahady et al, 2010;Robotin et al, 2009). Given the limited resources of tertiary liver clinics it is critical to assess the role community based nurses could play in improving the health outcomes of people living with CHB.…”

A validation of the use of names to screen for risk of chronic hepatitis B in Victoria, Australia, 2001 to 2010

“…Effective antiviral treatment can significantly reduce the complications of chronic infection such as cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) [6,7], and diagnosis in an individual facilitates screening and vaccination of susceptible contacts. Such screening and treatment initiatives have been demonstrated to be cost-effective [8,9]. Clinical guidelines recommend routine screening for those born in intermediate (2-8%) and high (>8%) CHB prevalence countries [5,10], however undiagnosed CHB is common [11,12].…”