Abstract
Background/Aims
Little is known about the role of post-treatment HBsAg decline in HBsAg loss following
nucleos(t)ide analogues cessation.
Methods
HBeAg-negative patients without cirrhosis who previously received entecavir or tenofovir
disoproxil fumarate (TDF) were enrolled (n=530). All patients were followed-up post-treatment for >24 months.
Results
Of the 530 patients, 126 achieved sustained response (Group I), 85 experienced virological
relapse without clinical relapse and retreatment (Group II), 67 suffered clinical
relapse without retreatment (Group III) and 252 received retreatment (Group IV). The
cumulative incidence of HBsAg loss at 8 years was 57.3% in Group I, 24.1% in Group
II, 35.9% in Group III and 7.3% in Group IV. Cox regression analysis showed that nucleos(t)ide
analogue experience, lower HBsAg levels at end-of-treatment (EOT) and higher HBsAg
decline at 6 months after EOT were independently associated with HBsAg loss in Group
I and Groups II+III. The rates of HBsAg loss at 6 years in patients with HBsAg decline
>0.2 log IU/mL in Group I and HBsAg decline >0.15 log IU/mL in Group II+III at 6 months
after EOT were 87.7% and 47.1%, respectively.
Conclusion
The HBsAg loss rate was high and post-treatment HBsAg decline could predict high HBsAg
loss rate among HBeAg-negative patients who discontinued entecavir or TDF and did
not need retreatment.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
ALT (alanine aminotransferase), CHB (chronic hepatitis B), HBV (hepatitis B virus), HBcrAg (hepatitis B core related antigen), HBeAg (hepatitis B e antigen), HBsAg (hepatitis B surface antigen), NA (nucleoside analogue), EOT (end-of-treatment), TDF (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), ULN (upper limit of normal), ROC (receiver-operating characteristic)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 02, 2023
Accepted:
February 10,
2023
Received:
October 6,
2022
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2023 Editrice Gastroenterologica Italiana S.r.l. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
