Enrolment for the trial started on June 1998. By December 2002 the predicted sample size of 150 randomized patients was completed (“pure HCV”: 80 and “mixed HCV+HBV”: 70). The baseline clinical, laboratory and tumor characteristics of the two arms and viral strata were comparable. After 45 months of median follow-up the three- and five- years survival rates were 69% and 52.4% respectively for the control group and 77.3% and 63.6% respectively for the IFN group (P= 0.471) . At the univariate analysis tumor multiplicity (>1 nodule) and vascular invasion were significantly related to recurrence. After adjustment of the relative weight of prognostic factors in a series of Cox models and cumulative incidence curves calculated on pattern of recurrence, a benefit of IFN was observed on late recurrence occurring in the pure-HCV patients adherent to treatment (hazard rate: 0.3; 95% Confidence interval:0.09-0.9, P=0.04).