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World J Clin Cases. Aug 26, 2021; 9(24): 6979-6986
Published online Aug 26, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i24.6979
Discontinuation of antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B patients
Renato Medas, Rodrigo Liberal, Guilherme Macedo
Renato Medas, Rodrigo Liberal, Guilherme Macedo, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, Porto 4200-319, Portugal
Author contributions: Medas R and Liberal R developed the concept, planned the manuscript, performed the literature review, and created the first draft; Macedo G performed critical expert review and revision of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (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/
Corresponding author: Rodrigo Liberal, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Senior Lecturer, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Centro Hospitalar Universitário de São João, Alameda Prof. Hernâni Monteiro, Porto 4200-016, Portugal. roliberal@hotmail.com
Received: January 29, 2021
Peer-review started: January 29, 2021
First decision: May 13, 2021
Revised: May 29, 2021
Accepted: July 2, 2021
Article in press: July 2, 2021
Published online: August 26, 2021
Processing time: 207 Days and 1.1 Hours
Core Tip

Core Tip: Recent data support the idea of stopping antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B patients. Current guidelines suggest that discontinuation of antiviral therapy may be attempted in non-cirrhotic patients who achieved durable on-therapy virological remission. Available evidence has shown that the paradigm shift from indefinite to finite antiviral therapy in chronic hepatitis B patients is emerging.