Incidence and predictors of HBV relapse after cessation of nucleoside analogues in HBeAg-negative patients with HBsAg ≤ 200 IU/mL

The predictors of hepatitis B virus (HBV) relapse and HBsAg loss after cessation of nucleos(t)ide analogues (NA) in HBeAg-negative patients with end-of-treatment HBsAg ≤ 200 IU/mL remains unclear. The study recruited 119 chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients who achieved end-of-treatment HBsAg ≤ 200 IU/mL, were treated with lamivudine (n = 34) and entecavir (n = 85). The 5-year rates of post-treatment virological relapse, clinical relapse, and HBsAg loss at 60 months were 39.4%, 27.6%, and 45.9%, respectively. Cox regression analysis revealed that HBV DNA at entry and end-of-treatment HBsAg levels were independent predictors of virolgical and clinical relapse. HBV genotype C and end-of-treatment HBsAg were independent factors of HBsAg loss. Patients with a combination of end-of-treatment HBsAg < 50 IU/mL and HBV DNA < 2 × 10(5) IU/mL at entry experienced the lowest virological and clinical relapse rates (5% and 0% at 60 months, respectively). In contract, patients with a combination of end-of-treatment HBsAg ≥ 50 IU/mL and HBV DNA ≥ 2 × 10(5) IU/mL at entry experienced high virological and clinical relapse (80.7% and 71.5% at 60 months, respectively). No patients experienced hepatic decompensation when clinical relapse occurred after timely retreatment. A combination of HBV DNA levels at entry and end-of-treatment HBsAg levels was useful for predicting the post-treatment HBV relapse in HBeAg-negative patients with HBsAg ≤ 200 IU/mL.