Inferior survival and frequent hepatic dysfunction in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma patients with HBV infection: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives: No clear consensus has been reached about the clinical features in hepatitis B virus (HBV)-associated non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) patients. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to explore the clinical characteristics and prognosis of NHL patients with chronic HBV infection (HBsAg+). Methods: Seven electronic databases were searched for relevant studies up to 31 January 2021. Hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) corresponding to 95% confidence interval (CI) were calculated to estimate the outcomes. The primary outcome was survival outcome, including overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS). Subgroup analysis was performed in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) patients. Results: Twenty-three retrospective studies, comprising of 1202 HBsAg+ NHL patients and 4448 HBsAg− NHL patients, were included. Twenty-two studies were conducted on Chinese patients. Compared with HBsAg− NHL patients, significantly shorter OS (HR 1.68; 95% CI 1.48–1.91) and PFS (HR 1.80; 95% CI 1.20–2.71), lower rate of complete remission (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.44–0.80) and higher frequency of hepatic dysfunction during chemotherapy (OR 3.46; 95% CI 2.61–4.57) were demonstrated in HBsAg+ NHL patients. Moreover, HBsAg+ patients were characterized by a younger age of disease onset, advanced disease stage, higher level of LDH and more frequent presence of B symptoms, and involvement of spleen and liver at diagnosis. Furthermore, subgroup analysis in DLBCL patients was also showed similar results. Conclusion: Our study implicated that NHL patients, especially DLBCL, with chronic HBV infection displayed inferior prognosis, higher incidence of hepatic dysfunction during chemotherapy and distinct clinical features.