Abstract
Therapy with currently available oral nucleos(t)ide analogs (NA) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB, HBeAg-positive or -negative) should ultimately aim at preventing progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Since these hard to achieve clinical outcomes evolve over several decades, a number of intermediate therapy end-points i.e. virological, biochemical, serological and histological have been proposed. For HBeAg-positive CHB, durable HBeAg seroconversion remains the gold standard clinical end-point while for HBeAg-negative CHB sustained HBV DNA suppression and HBsAg loss represent the desirable goals to be reached. In this review, the distinguishing features and therapeutic end-points of HBeAg-positive vs—negative CHB are critically presented.
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Disclosure
Dr. S. Hadziyannis has served on the Global Advisory Board of Gilead and has been a consultant and grant recipient for Roche and Gilead. He has received honoraria from Novartis, Pfizer, BMS, Roche, Gilead and Merck, and travel and accommodation expenses from Roche, Gilead, BMS, and Novartis; Dr. D. Vassilopoulos has received honoraria and travel and accommodation expenses from Roche, Abbott, Merck/Schering-Plough, Wyeth/Pfizer, UCB, and Novartis.
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Hadziyannis, S.J., Vassilopoulos, D. What Should Be the Endpoints of Oral Therapy in HBeAg-positive Versus HBeAg-negative Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B. Curr Hepatitis Rep 11, 65–69 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11901-012-0124-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11901-012-0124-8