Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2018 Mar 2. doi: 10.1111/apt.14560. [Epub ahead of print]
Stopping nucleos(t)ide analogue treatment in Caucasian hepatitis B patients after HBeAg seroconversion is associated with high relapse rates and fatal outcomes.Van Hees S1,2, Bourgeois S1, Van Vlierberghe H3, Sersté T4, Francque S1, Michielsen P1, Sprengers D1, Reynaert H4, Henrion J5, Negrin Dastis S6, Delwaide J7, Lasser L4, Decaestecker J8, Orlent H9, Janssens F10, Robaeys G11, Colle I12, Stärkel P4, Moreno C4, Nevens F13, Vanwolleghem T1,2; Belgian NA Stop Study Group.
Collaborators (21)
Van Hees S, Bourgeois S, Van Vlierberghe H, Sersté T, Francque S, Michielsen P, Sprengers D, Reynaert H, Henrion J, Negrin-Dastis S, Delwaide J, Lasser L, Decaestecker J, Orlent H, Janssens F, Robaeys G, Colle I, Stärkel P, Moreno C, Nevens F, Vanwolleghem T.
Author information
1Antwerp, Belgium.2Rotterdam, The Netherlands.3Ghent, Belgium.4Brussels, Belgium.5Jolimont, Belgium.6Charleroi, Belgium.7Liège, Belgium.8Roeselare, Belgium.9Brugge, Belgium.10Hasselt, Belgium.11Genk, Belgium.12Aalst, Belgium.13Leuven, Belgium.
AbstractBACKGROUND: Stopping nucleos(t)ide analogues (NA) after hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion is associated with high relapse rates in Asian patients, but data in Caucasian cohorts are scarce. Clinical course, outcomes and immunological aspects of chronic hepatitis B infections differ substantially between distinct ethnicities.
AIM: The aim of this study was to determine relapse rates, factors predicting relapse and clinical outcomes after nucleos(t)ide analogue cessation in a large, predominantly Caucasian cohort of chronic hepatitis B patients with nucleos(t)ide analogue-induced HBeAg seroconversion.
METHODS: This is a nationwide observational cohort study including HBeAg positive, mono-infected chronic hepatitis B patients with nucleos(t)ide analogue-induced HBeAg seroconversion from 18 centres in Belgium.
RESULTS: A total of 98 patients with nucleo(s)tide analogue-induced HBeAg seroconversion were included in the study. Of the 62 patients who stopped treatment after a median consolidation treatment of 8 months, 30 relapsed. Higher gamma-glutamyl transferase levels at both treatment initiation (HR 1.004; P = 0.001 per unit increment) and HBeAg seroconversion (HR 1.006; P = 0.013 per unit increment) were associated with an increased risk of clinically significant relapse in a multivariate Cox regression model. Treatment cessation led to liver-related death in 2 patients, of whom one showed a severe flare. Of the patients who continued treatment after HBeAg seroconversion, none relapsed or developed severe hepatic outcomes.
CONCLUSION: Treatment withdrawal in Caucasian chronic hepatitis B patients after nucleos(t)ide analogue-induced HBeAg seroconversion results in viral relapses in more than half of patients with potential fatal outcomes. These real-world data further lend support to preferentially continue NA treatment after HBeAg seroconversion until HBsAg loss.
© 2018 The Authors. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PMID:29498078DOI:10.1111/apt.14560
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