Real World Study About Anti-viral Regimen Adjustment on Achieving Complete Response in CHB Patients

Overview

In the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB), viral suppression is closely related to disease progression, and the lower the viral load, the lower the risk of progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In addition, a considerable number of patients in China are still using non-first-line antiviral therapy, such as adefovir dipivoxil, lamivudine, and telbivudine (ADV/LAM/LdT). About 25% of patients who received entecavir(ETV) treatment for more than half a year and confirmed that their DNA had turned negative by non-high-precision detection methods still had low viremia (LLV,DNA\>20 IU/ml,IU=international unit), and LLV patients were twice as likely to develop HCC as patients with complete viral response.Patients who have received ETV or second-line NA(LAM/ADV/LdT) treatment for more than half a year to 1 year and confirmed HBV-DNA\>10IU/ml by high-precision detection method are recommended to adjust the treatment plan in order to reduce the DNA load below 10IU/ml as soon as possible. It is up to the doctor, in consultation with the patient, to decide whether or not to make the adjustment.

In our hospital, about 150 patients are screened for HBV-DNA every day. Therefore, 54 million patients will be tested for HBV-DNA within one year, of which 30% are estimated to be HBV-DNA ≥10 IU. These patients will be informed to the Department of Infectious Diseases of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University for follow-up, and will be randomly divided into three groups according to 1:1. Patients in all three groups will be educated about hepatitis B virus infection and antiviral treatment, and the treatment regimen will be adjusted according to whether their HBV DNA is ≥10 IU/ml or not. Patients in group 1: patients with persistant low level HBV DNA (\<10 IU/ml). Patients in group 2: HBV-DNA≥10 IU/ml, receiving HBV-related education and being advised by the doctor to change or to add another NA. Patients in group 2: patients with persistant HBV DNA (\>10 IU/ml) but refuse to change the regimen. Patients in group 3: patients with persistant HBV DNA (\>10 IU/ml) and agree to change the regimen. Educational methods include videos, including an introduction to hepatitis B virus (disease profile, infection, outcome, HBV infection, vertical transmission and other risk factors) for 5 minutes, brochures with relevant information and consultations with physicians and nurses. All patients with chronic hepatitis B(CHB) receiving ETV or second-line NA(LAM/ADV/LdT) treatment for more than six months to one year will receive HBV-DNA detection, and patients with HBV-DNA≥10 IU/ml will be informed and recommended to adjust the treatment regimen so that the actual prevalence of HBV-DNA load \< 10 IU/ml in Chongqing HBV cohort could be obtained . The investigators estimated that 30% of the patients had HBV-DNA≥ 10 IU/ml, so there were about 16,200 patients had HBV-DNA≥ 10 IU/ml among 54,000 patients a year. These patients will be diagnosed with LLV and will undergo a treatment regimen adjustment, with a recommendation to switch to or use a different type of nucleos(t)ide analogue (NA) for anti-viral treatment.