Stopping long-term NUCs therapy before HBsAg loss in HBeAg negative patients: follow-up of long-term responders

Background and aim: Long-term treatment with nucleos(t)ide analogues (NUC) is highly effective but HBsAg loss is a rare event in HBeAg-negative patients. Small pilot trials have challenged the question of sustained remission after discontinuation of long-term NUC-therapy in some patients. We recently reported on high relapse rates (72%) after treatment discontinuation in 32 HBeAg-negative patients (AASLD 2011). Here we report on the long-term outcome of patients without HBV relapse after stopping antiviral treatment after 37 – 80 months. Methods: 9/32 patients without relapse were identified by retrospective dat…