ABSTRACT
Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a major cause of viral hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). From chronic HBV infection to HCC, most patients go through the stages of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and HCC. During this long process, the ongoing integration of HBV DNA into host DNA increases the risk of HCC, and the death and compensatory proliferation of hepatocytes caused by persistent liver inflammation may promote the accumulation of oncogenic mutations and finally lead to the malignant transformation of hepatocytes. Currently, nucleos(t)ide analogues are widely used anti-HBV drugs, which controls infection by inhibiting HBV replication and can thus effectively slow down disease progression and end-stage liver disease; however, anti-HBV therapy often starts late and has a relatively low treatment rate, and there is still a tendency of increase in the incidence rate of HBV-related HCC. Therefore, how to improve current antiviral strategies to further reduce the risk of HBV-related end-stage liver disease including HCC has become a hotspot in clinical practice. This article summarizes the previous studies supporting the expansion of antiviral therapy and suggests that antiviral therapy should be initiated as early as possible to inhibit viral replication and the sequential events of HBV DNA integration and ultimately reduce the risk of HCC in patients with chronic HBV infection.
ABSTRACT
ObjectiveTo investigate the changes of hepatitis B sarfaceantigen (HBsAg) titer in hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients treated with nucleos(t)ide analogs and pegylated interferon alfa-2a (PEG IFNα-2a) sequential therapy.Methods Among 6 HBeAg positive CHB patients,3 patients were treated with nucleos(t)ide analogs followed by PEG IFNα-2a for 48 weeks,3 patients were treated with nucleos(t)ide analog monotherapy.The serum HBsAg,anti-HBs,HBeAg,anti-HBe andanti-HBcweredetectedusingthetime-resolved immunofluorometric assay and serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels were determined by Taqman polymerase chain reaction (PCR) every 12 weeks.Results HBsAg loss were achieved in three patients after 48-week nucleos(t)ide analogs and PEG IFNα-2a sequential therapy.However,the HBsAg titers of another 3 patients varied from 100 IU/mL to 320 IU/mL.ConclusionIn HBeAg positive CHB patients who obtain virologic response accompanied with HBsAg titer decreasing dramatically by nucleos(t) ide analog treatment,PEG IFNα-2a sequential treatment can increase HBsAg clearance rate.