Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Effects of hepatitis C virus infection on the safety of chemotherapy for breast cancer patients

  • Clinical Trial
  • Published:
Breast Cancer Research and Treatment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is one of the major pathogens of chronic viral hepatitis, and approximately 38 million patients are infected with HCV in China. However, little information is available on the effect of HCV infection during chemotherapy for breast cancer and the impact of HCV infection on the toxicity of chemotherapy and targeted therapy.

Methods

We performed a retrospective survey of 835 patients who were diagnosed with breast cancer between January 2010 and December 2015 at our institution. All patients had been screened for HCV infection at the time of breast cancer diagnosis. We retrospectively investigated the toxicities of chemotherapy and the changes in HCV load based on a review of the medical records.

Results

A total of 21 patients with positive anti-HCV antibody tests received chemotherapy. The median patient age was 46.3 ± 11.2 years. Four (19.0%) patients exhibited abnormal liver function at baseline. The morbidity of abnormal liver function at baseline was higher in HCV-infected patients (19.0% vs. 0, P = 0.000). Four patients received trastuzumab therapy. Five (23.8%) patients who received chemotherapy developed hepatitis. No patients presented with HCV reactivation. The morbidity of hepatitis and the rate of disruption of chemotherapy were not significantly different between breast cancer patients without HCV infection and those with HCV infection (23.8 vs. 14.2% P = 0.342, 9.5 vs. 5.0% P = 0.619, respectively).

Conclusion

HCV infection had no adverse impact on chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. However, consulting a gastroenterologist and closely monitoring liver function during the course of chemotherapy may benefit patients.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Abbreviations

HCV:

Hepatitis C virus

CHC:

Chronic hepatitis C

HBV:

Hepatitis B virus

ER:

Estrogen receptor

PR:

Progesterone receptor

HER-2:

Human epidermal growth factor receptor 2

AST:

Aspartate aminotransferase

ALT:

Alanine aminotransferase

TBIL:

Total bilirubin

PT:

Prothrombin time

References

  1. WHO (2014) Guidelines for the screening, care and treatment of persons with hepatitis C infection. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  2. Lalezari J, Box T, O’Riordan W, Mehra P, Nguyen T, Poordad F, Dejesus E, Kwo P, Godofsky E, Lawrence S, Dubuc-Patrick G, Chen J, McCarville J, Pietropaolo K, Zhou XJ, Sullivan-Bólyai J, Mayers D (2013) IDX184 in combination with pegylated interferon-alpha2a and ribavirin for 2 weeks in treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis C. Antivir Ther 18:755–764. doi:10.3851/IMP2552

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Liu Y, Cai Q, Li X, Shao X, Luo Q, Zhang X, Zhao Z (2014) Effect of drug resistance mutations on antiviral agents in HCV patients. Antivir Ther. doi:10.3851/IMP2852

    PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Zeng H, Zheng R, Zhang S, Zou X, Chen W (2014) Female breast cancer statistics of 2010 in China: estimates based on data from 145 population-based cancer registries. J Thorac Dis 6:466–470. doi:10.3978/j.issn.2072-1439.2014.03.03

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  5. Chen W, Zheng R, Zeng H, Zhang S, He J (2015) Annual report on status of cancer in China, 2011. Chin J Cancer Res 27:2–12. doi:10.3978/j.issn.1000-9604.2015.01.06

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  6. DeSantis C, Ma J, Bryan L, Jemal A (2014) Breast cancer statistics, 2013. CA Cancer J Clin 64:52–62. doi:10.3322/caac.21203

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Loomba R, Rowley A, Wesley R, Liang TJ, Hoofnagle JH, Pucino F, Csako G (2008) Systematic review: the effect of preventive lamivudine on hepatitis B reactivation during chemotherapy. Ann Intern Med 148:519–528. doi:10.7326/0003-4819-148-7-200804010-00008

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  8. Ennishi D, Maeda Y, Niitsu N, Kojima M, Izutsu K, Takizawa J, Kusumoto S, Okamoto M, Yokoyama M, Takamatsu Y, Sunami K, Miyata A, Murayama K, Sakai A, Matsumoto M, Shinagawa K, Takaki A, Matsuo K, Kinoshita T, Tanimoto M (2010) Hepatic toxicity and prognosis in hepatitis C virus-infected patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma treated with rituximab-containing chemotherapy regimens: a Japanese multicenter analysis. Blood 116:5119–5125. doi:10.1182/blood-2010-06-289231

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Mahale P, Kontoyiannis DP, Chemaly RF, Jiang Y, Hwang JP, Davila M, Torres HA (2012) Acute exacerbation and reactivation of chronic hepatitis C virus infection in cancer patients. J Hepatol 57:1177–1185. doi:10.1016/j.jhep.2012.07.031

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. WHO (2015) Guidelines for the prevention, care and treatment of persons with chronic hepatitis B infection. World Health Organization, Geneva

    Google Scholar 

  11. Miura Y, Theriault RL, Naito Y, Suyama K, Shimomura A, Iwatani T, Miura D, Kawabata H, Kumada H, Takano T (2013) The safety of chemotherapy for breast cancer patients with hepatitis C Virus infection. J Cancer 4:519–523. doi:10.7150/jca.6231

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Long M, Jia W, Li S, Jin L, Wu J, Rao N, Feng H, Chen K, Deng H, Liu F, Su F, Song E (2011) A single-center, prospective and randomized controlled study: can the prophylactic use of lamivudine prevent hepatitis B virus reactivation in hepatitis B s-antigen seropositive breast cancer patients during chemotherapy? Breast Cancer Res Treat 127:705–712. doi:10.1007/s10549-011-1455-9

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Yeo W, Ho WM, Hui P, Chan PK, Lam KC, Lee JJ, Johnson PJ (2004) Use of lamivudine to prevent hepatitis B virus reactivation during chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer Res Treat 88:209–215. doi:10.1007/s10549-004-0725-1

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Wang Y, Luo XM, Yang D, Zhang J, Zhuo HY, Zhang J, Jiang Y (2013) Testing for hepatitis B infection in prospective chemotherapy patients: a retrospective study. World J Gastroenterol 19:923–930. doi:10.3748/wjg.v19.i6.923

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Nicot F, Kamar N, Mariamé B, Rostaing L, Pasquier C, Izopet J (2010) No evidence of occult hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection in serum of HCV antibody-positive HCV RNA-negative kidney-transplant patients. Transpl Int 23:594–601. doi:10.1111/j.1432-2277.2009.01025.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Eisenberg R, Looney RJ (2005) The therapeutic potential of anti-CD20 “what do B-cells do?”. Clin Immunol 117:207–213. doi:10.1016/j.clim.2005.08.006

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Baselga J, Perez EA, Pienkowski T, Bell R (2006) Adjuvant trastuzumab: a milestone in the treatment of HER-2-positive early breast cancer. Oncologist 11(Suppl 1):4–12. doi:10.1634/theoncologist.11-90001-4

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Pinto AC, Ades F, de Azambuja E, Piccart-Gebhart M (2013) Trastuzumab for patients with HER2 positive breast cancer: delivery, duration and combination therapies. Breast 22(Suppl 2):S152–S155. doi:10.1016/j.breast.2013.07.029

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Ma B, Yeo W, Hui P, Ho WM, Johnson PJ (2002) Acute toxicity of adjuvant doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide for early breast cancer: a retrospective review of Chinese patients and comparison with an historic western series. Radiother Oncol 62:185–189. doi:10.1016/S0167-8140(02)00003-8

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Kenmotsu H, Tanigawara Y (2015) Pharmacokinetics, dynamics and toxicity of docetaxel: why the Japanese dose differs from the western dose. Cancer Sci 106:497–504. doi:10.1111/cas.12647

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The conception of the work was performed by Prof. Huang. All authors contributed to data acquisition; each revision was permitted by all authors. Each author has participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Funding

This study was supported by Guangdong Natural Science Foundation 2014A030313193.

Author information

Author notes

    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Department of Thyroid and Breast Surgery, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

      Yu Liu, Jia-Ni Wang, Xi Li, Qun-Ai Huang & Yong Huang

    2. Department of Infectious Diseases, Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

      Zhan-Yi Li

    Authors
    1. Yu Liu
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    2. Zhan-Yi Li
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    3. Jia-Ni Wang
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    4. Xi Li
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    5. Qun-Ai Huang
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    6. Yong Huang
      View author publications

      You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

    Contributions

    YL, ZYL, and YH designed the study, YL, ZYL, and XL analyzed the data, and QAH and JNW were in charge of drafting the manuscript.

    Corresponding author

    Correspondence to Yong Huang.

    Ethics declarations

    Conflict of interest

    The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

    Additional information

    Availability of data and material

    The datasets collected or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

    Yu Liu, Zhan-Yi Li and Jia-Ni Wang have contributed equally to this work.

    Rights and permissions

    Reprints and permissions

    About this article

    Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

    Cite this article

    Liu, Y., Li, ZY., Wang, JN. et al. Effects of hepatitis C virus infection on the safety of chemotherapy for breast cancer patients. Breast Cancer Res Treat 164, 379–383 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-017-4259-8

    Download citation

    • Received:

    • Accepted:

    • Published:

    • Issue Date:

    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10549-017-4259-8

    Keywords

    Search

    Navigation