ABSTRACT
Hepatitis Bvirus (HBV)reactivation induced by cancer chemotherapy is increasingly being observed. However, most reports of resolved HBV[hepatitis Bsurface antigen(HBs-Ag)negative and hepatitis Bsurface antibody(HBs-Ab)positive and/or hepatitis Bcore antibody(HBc-Ab)positive]infection involve patients with hematological malignancies, whereas few describe patients with solid cancers. In this study, we report our experience with a patient with resolved HBV infection who was undergoing bevacizumab plus FOLFIRI treatment for rectal cancer when HBV reactivation was noted. This 74-year-old man was HBs-Ag negative, HBs-Ab negative, HBcAb positive, hepatitis B e antigen(HBe-Ag)negative, and hepatitis Be antibody(HBe-Ab)negative and had HBV-DNA levels below the detection limit. Forty-two days after the 21st cycle of bevacizumab plus FOLFIRI treatment, his aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels increased. At followup examination, he was HBs-Ag positive, HBs-Ab negative, HBc-Ab positive, HBe-Ag positive, and HBe-Ab positive, while his HBV-DNA levels had increased to>9.0 log copies/mL, confirming HBV reactivation. His treatment included entecavir(0.5mg/ day)administration and plasmapheresis, but he succumbed to liver failure 82 days after his final dose of bevacizumab plus FOLFIRI. Thus, HBV reactivation can occur during bevacizumab plus FOLFIRI treatment in rectal cancer patients with a resolved prior HBV infection. No similar report has been published to date, and we believe that this study will be important when discussing HBV reactivation in patients with resolved HBV infection. Future studies will require detailed investigations in a larger number of institutions.
