Effects of a 24-week course of interferon-α therapy after curative treatment of hepatitis C virus-associated hepatocellular carcinoma

Figure 2 Cumulative recurrence rates according to SVR to IFN therapy after curative treatment of HCC. A: Rates of first recurrence compared among SVR, non-SVR and non-IFN groups. The rate of first recurrence of HCC in the SVR group was significantly lower than in the non-SVR and non-IFN groups (P = 0.002, P = 0.016, respectively). No significant difference in first recurrence rate was seen between the non-SVR and non-IFN groups (P = 0.381); B: Rates of second recurrence compared among the three groups. Second recurrence of HCC was suppressed in the SVR group compared with the non-SVR and non-IFN groups (P = 0.0037, P = 0.0019, respectively), and to a more pronounced degree than for the first recurrence rate. No significant difference in second recurrence rate was seen between the non-SVR and non-IFN groups (P = 0.90).