Reduced risk of relapse after long-term nucleos(t)ide analogue consolidation therapy for chronic hepatitis B

BackgroundBefore stopping nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) treatment in chronic hepatitis B (CHB), 6-12months of consolidation therapy is recommended. AimTo investigate the effect of consolidation therapy on off-treatment outcomes in CHB patients. MethodsWe included 94 patients who stopped NA after at least 1year of therapy. Patients could be HBeAg-positive or HBeAg-negative at start-of-treatment, but were HBeAg-negative and had undetectable HBV DNA at time of discontinuation. Consolidation therapy was defined as treatment after the first undetectable HBV DNA (and HBeAg loss for HBeAg-positive patients) until NA cessation. ResultsAt 3years, 74% of the start-of-treatment HBeAg-positive and 75% of the start-of-treatment HBeAg-negative patients developed HBV DNA >2000IU/mL at a single time point, whereas a persistent virological relapse (2 tests of HBV DNA >2000IU/mL 6months apart within 1year) developed in 49% of the start-of-treatment HBeAg-positive and 53% of the start-of-treatment HBeAg-negative patients. For both HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative patients, consolidation therapy of 3years was associated with lower persistent virological relapse rates compared to