Year: 2017
Type: article
Abstract: Treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) has the potential to decrease the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).Some patients on therapy may develop persistent or intermittent low-level (<2,000 IU/mL) HBV viremia (LLV), but its significance is not well understood.Kim et al. conducted a retrospective cohort study to evaluate the clinical significance of LLV after achieving a negative viral load.A retrospective cohort of 875 treatment-na€ ıve patients on entecavir monotherapy were followed for the development of HCC.HCC developed more frequently in those with LLV, compared to those with persistently undetectable HBV DNA.This difference was over 2-fold higher and was significant in patients with cirrhosis, but not in patients without cirrhosis.This suggests that LLV may have clinical implications, and more data are needed to guide clinical practice.(
Source: Hepatology
DOI: 10.1002/hep.29317
Language: English
Topic: Hepatitis B Virus Studies
Subfield: Epidemiology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W2739071327