VIENNA, Austria -- April 29, 2015 -- Stopping tenofovir disoproxil
fumarate treatment after long-term virologic suppression is safe and
associated with a more profound decline in hepatitis B surface antigen
(HBsAg) levels than continuous treatment in patients with hepatitis B e
antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who have undetectable
hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA, according to a study presented here at the
International Liver Congress, the 50th Annual Meeting of the European
Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL).
For patients with HBeAg-negative CHB, optimal nucleos(t)ide therapy
duration remains to be defined. The various guidelines recommend
long-term nucleos(t)ide therapy until HBsAg loss is reached.
However, “although long-term nucleos(t)ide therapy may partially
restore HBV-specific T-cell function, HBsAg loss is rarely achieved in
HBeAg-negative patients,” said Thomas Berg, MD, Hepatology Section,
Internal Medicine, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany, on April 25.
Read more...Labels: EASL 2015, HBsAG, tenofovir