We express our sincere gratitude to Li et al. for their comments on our study regarding recurrence patterns following curative surgery or ablation in patients with HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the era of effective antiviral therapy.1,2 Through multiple analytical approaches, including time-dependent analysis, landmark analysis and secular trend analysis, we demonstrated that the widespread adoption of antiviral therapy has led to an overall reduction in HCC recurrence rates. Notably, it has also markedly attenuated the second peak of the classical bimodal recurrence pattern originally observed by Imamura et al.
Journal of Hepatology published a clinical update in Research Highlights on 11 Feb 2026.
The item focuses on Reply to: “Recurrence pattern for HBV-related HCC after liver transplantation in the antiviral era”.
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