1Liver Diseases Branch, Intramural Division, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA.
2Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
Long-term (10-20 y) hepatitis B virus (HBV) suppression with nucleoside analogs (NA) leads to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) loss in a substantial proportion of patients, particularly if hepatitis B envelope antigen (HBeAg)-negative.
Study design
Open-label prospective US study of 42 HBsAg-positive patients receiving lamivudine for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection, followed for 3.2-19.5 y (median, 16.1 y).
Lamivudine was switched to other NA(s) in 16 patients who developed lamivudine resistance/relapsed.
Key results
Of 22 HBeAg-positive patients, 17 (77%) became HBeAg-negative; 5 (23%) then cleared HBsAg.
Among 20 HBeAg-negative patients, 10 (50%) cleared HBsAg.
Time to HBsAg clearance ranged from 0.9 to 16.8 y (median, 9.3 y).
By 10 y, 4 (18%) of HBeAg-positive and 6 (30%) of HBeAg-negative cohorts were HBsAg negative.
Lamivudine resistance developed in 24 patients (57%), of whom 6 (25%) lost HBsAg.