Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Background/aims
Finite nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy has been proposed as an alternative treatment strategy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB), but biomarkers for post-treatment monitoring are limited. We investigated whether measuring hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) after NA cessation may stratify the risk of subsequent clinical relapse (CR).Methods
This retrospective multicenter analysis enrolled adults with CHB who were prospectively monitored after discontinuing entecavir or tenofovir with negative HBeAg and undetectable HBV DNA at the end of treatment (EOT). Patients with cirrhosis or malignancy were excluded. CR was defined as serum alanine aminotransferase > two times the upper limit of normal with recurrent viremia. We applied time-dependent Cox proportional hazard models to clarify the association between HBcrAg levels and subsequent CR.Results
The cohort included 203 patients (median age, 49.8 years; 76.8% male; 60.6% entecavir) who had been treated for a median of 36.9 months (interquartile range [IQR], 36.5-40.1). During a median post-treatment follow-up of 31.7 months (IQR, 16.7-67.1), CR occurred in 104 patients with a 5-year cumulative incidence of 54.8% (95% confidence interval [CI], 47.1-62.4%). Time-varying HBcrAg level was a significant risk factor for subsequent CR (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.53 per log U/mL; 95% CI, 1.12-2.08) with adjustment for EOT HBsAg, EOT anti-HBe, EOT HBcrAg and time-varying HBsAg. During follow-up, HBcrAg <1,000 U/mL predicted a lower risk of CR (aHR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.21-0.81).Conclusion
Dynamic measurement of HBcrAg after NA cessation is predictive of subsequent CR and may be useful to guide post-treatment monitoring.
SUBMITTER: Tsai YN
PROVIDER: S-EPMC10776300 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Tsai Ying-Nan YN Wu Jia-Ling JL Tseng Cheng-Hao CH Chen Tzu-Haw TH Wu Yi-Ling YL Chen Chieh-Chang CC Fang Yu-Jen YJ Yang Tzeng-Huey TH Nguyen Mindie H MH Lin Jaw-Town JT Hsu Yao-Chun YC
Clinical and molecular hepatology 20231214 1
<h4>Background/aims</h4>Finite nucleos(t)ide analog (NA) therapy has been proposed as an alternative treatment strategy for chronic hepatitis B (CHB), but biomarkers for post-treatment monitoring are limited. We investigated whether measuring hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) after NA cessation may stratify the risk of subsequent clinical relapse (CR).<h4>Methods</h4>This retrospective multicenter analysis enrolled adults with CHB who were prospectively monitored after discontinuing ente ...[more]