Minireviews
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Jan 21, 2015; 21(3): 829-835
Published online Jan 21, 2015. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v21.i3.829
Recent advances in prevention of hepatitis B recurrence after liver transplantation
Zhi-Feng Xi, Qiang Xia
Zhi-Feng Xi, Qiang Xia, Department of Liver Surgery, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200127, China
Author contributions: Xi ZF designed the research and wrote the paper; and Xia Q coordinated the research and approved the final manuscript for publication.
Supported by Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine Science and Technology Fund, No. 11XJ21016; and Training Program for Super Academic Leaders in the Shanghai Health System, No. XBR2011029.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Qiang Xia, Professor, Department of Liver Surgery, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiaotong University, No. 160 Pujian Road, Shanghai 200127, China. xiaqiang@medmail.com.cn
Telephone: +86-21-68383775 Fax: +86-21-58737232
Received: June 29, 2014
Peer-review started: June 29, 2014
First decision: August 6, 2014
Revised: August 31, 2014
Accepted: December 5, 2014
Article in press: December 8, 2014
Published online: January 21, 2015
Processing time: 205 Days and 20 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: The strategy of hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) combined with lamivudine has been the standard treatment for the prophylaxis of hepatitis B virus recurrence after liver transplantation. However, the high rate of lamivudine resistance and the many disadvantages of HBIG have compelled surgeons to reconsider the long-term efficacy of this strategy for the prevention of hepatitis B virus reinfection. This review discusses new strategies for prophylaxis of the recurrence of hepatitis B after liver transplantation.