Hepatitis B Infection: Progress in Identifying Patients Most Likely to Respond to Peginterferon Alfa.

Hepatitis B Infection: Progress in Identifying Patients Most Likely to Respond to Peginterferon Alfa. Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2020 Dec 18;: Authors: Yeh ML, Huang JF, Yu ML, Chuang WL Abstract Introduction: Despite the potential disadvantage of side effects, pegylated interferon alpha (Peg-IFN α) remains an indispensable agent for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) due to its immunomodulatory effect. The selection of a patient most likely to have a favorable response becomes an essential issue for Peg-IFN α therapy. Areas covered: Recent progress in the prediction of the treatment response to Peg-IFN α. Expert opinion: Before initiating Peg-IFN α therapy, baseline host and viral factors, including female sex, younger age, a high alanine aminotransferase level, HBV genotype A or B, and low viral load, predict a favorable response. In addition, on-treatment viral kinetics of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), e antigen (HBeAg) and HBV DNA help clinicians determine whether to continue or discontinue Peg-IFN α therapy. The novel HBV markers hepatitis B core-related antigen and HBV RNA have also recently been investigated as useful predictors. The limited efficacy of Peg-IFN α monotherapy facilitated the development of new strategies of "add-on" or "switch to" Peg-IFN α in patients receiving long-term nucleot(s)ide analog treatment, which may lead to an increase in HBeAg and HBsAg loss. In summary, tailored Peg-...
Source: Expert Review of Gastroenterology and Hepatology - Category: Gastroenterology Tags: Expert Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol Source Type: research