Efficacy of telbivudine in Taiwanese chronic hepatitis B patients compared with GLOBE extension study and predicting treatment outcome by HBV DNA kinetics at Week 24

BACKGROUND: The aims of this study were to compare results from a Taiwanese sub-study of the GLOBE 2303 telbivudine study and evaluate the HBV DNA kinetics. METHODS: Forty-one Taiwanese patients were treated for an additional 2 years with telbivudine. Efficacy endpoints were the same as the GLOBE study. The correlations of reductions in HBV DNA levels at Week 24 were evaluated. RESULTS: All 7 HBeAg-positive patients with undetectable HBV DNA levels at Week 24 sustained this response at Year 4 with rates of ALT normalization 71%, HBeAg seroconversion 57%, and cumulative resistance 0%. Out of 16 HBeAg-negative patients with undetectable HBV DNA levels at Week 24, 11 (78%) sustained this response at Year 4 with rates of ALT normalization 83% and cumulative resistance 8.7%. There were significant correlations between reductions of DNA of ≥5 log(10) copies/mL at Week 24 with maintained PCR negativity at Years 2–4 and a lack of resistance at Year 2. CONCLUSIONS: Long-term telbivudine efficacy in Taiwanese patients was comparable to the GLOBE 2303 study. A reduction in HBV DNA levels by ≥5 log(10) copies/mL at Week 24 represented the optimal cut-off point, which may predict favourable outcomes in patients with high baseline HBV DNA levels. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00142298 (http://clinicaltrials.gov/).