When to stop nucleos(t)ide analogues treatment for chronic hepatitis B? Durability of antiviral response

Table 1 Criteria for stopping nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy in chronic hepatitis B patients

	HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B	HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B
APASL 2012	HBeAg seroconversion with undetectable HBV DNA for at least 12 mo	HBsAg seroclearance or NA therapy > 2 yr and undetectable HBV DNA on three separate occasions, 6 mo apart
EASL 2012	HBsAg seroclearance or HBeAg seroconversion with undetectable HBV DNA and 12 mo of consolidation therapy	HBsAg seroclearance
AASLD 2009	HBeAg seroconversion with undetectable HBV DNA and > 6 mo of consolidation therapy	HBsAg seroclearance

HBeAg: Hepatitis Be antigen; APASL: Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver; EASL: European Association for the Study of Liver; AASLD: American Association of the Study of Liver Disease.

Table 2 Off-therapy durability of response to nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy in chronic hepatitis B patients

Ref.	NA	n	Treatment duration	Cumulative relapse rate
HBeAg-positive CHB
Song et al[13]	LMV	98	10.3 ± 3.1 mo	1 yr, 37.5%; 2 yr 49.2%
Chien et al[14]	LMV	82	16 (3-55) mo	48%1
Dienstag et al[12]	LMV	39	36.6 (4.8-45.6) mo	77%1
Ryu et al[18]	LMV	61		6 mo, 15%; 1 yr, 21%; 2 yr, 31%
van Nunen et al[15]	LMV	59		3 yr, 54%
Byun et al[16]	LMV	132	14 ± 7 mo	6 mo, 58%; 1 yr, 66%
Yoon et al[17]	LMV	95	26 mo	1 yr, 52%; 2 yr, 55.7%
Fung et al[44]	LMV	22	23 (5-91) mo	44%1
Lee et al[19]	LMV	178	26 (12-77) mo	1 yr, 15.9%; 5 yr, 30.2%
Reijnders et al[21]	Various	132	26 (16-43) mo	67%1
Wang et al[20]	LMV	82	24 (12-54) mo	1 yr, 23.4%; 2 yr, 25.0%; 4 yr, 29.4%
Chaung et al[22]	Various	39		90%1
HBeAg-negative CHB
Santantonio et al[23]	LMV	15	52 wk	74%1
Fung et al[24]	LMV	50	2 yr	6 mo, 30%; 12 mo, 50%; 18 mo, 50%
Chien et al[45]	LMV	85	7.4 (6-12) mo	61%1
Chan et al[46]	LMV	139	24 mo	90%1
Shouval et al[47]	ETV	257	48 wk	3%1
	LMV	201	48 wk	5%1
Paik et al[25]	LMV	50	24 mo	1 yr, 20.9%; 2 yr, 36.0%; 3 yr, 43.1%
Liu et al[26]	LMV	61	≥ 24 mo	6 mo, 26.2%; 1 yr, 43.6%; 5 yr, 56.1%
Hadziyannis et al[27]	ADV	33	≥ 4 yr	45%1
Jeng et al[28]	ETV	95	721 (395-1762) d	1 yr, 45.3%
Kim et al[48]	Various	45		6 mo, 48.9%; 1 yr, 73.3%

¹Overall relapse. NA: Nucleos(t)ide analogue; CHB: Chronic hepatitis B; LMV: Lamivudine; ETV: Entecavir; ADV: Adefovir dipivoxil.