Background: There is very little data on the long-term outcome of patients with chronic hepatitis B after interferon therapy. A 6-year follow-up of two interferon trials in chronic hepatitis B patients is reported.
Methods: One hundred twenty-eight Chinese adults with chronic hepatitis B who received interferon therapy were followed for 19-79 months (median 41 months). Twenty-nine patients lost hepatitis B e antigen and two also lost hepatitis B surface antigen within 1 year of treatment.
Results: Seven (24%) responders reactivated. Twenty-eight (28%) nonresponders had sustained clearance of hepatitis B e antigen during follow-up. Delayed clearance of hepatitis B e antigen occurred more frequently in nonresponders who had elevated pretreatment serum transaminase levels. (P = 0.002). Serum hepatitis B virus DNA became undetectable by polymerase chain reaction assay in both responders who lost hepatitis B surface antigen but in only 8 (17%) patients who lost hepatitis B e antigen only. Delayed clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen was not seen in any of the 48 patients who had sustained clearance of hepatitis B e antigen.
Conclusions: Contrary to reports from Western countries, complete elimination of markers of hepatitis B virus infection was uncommon in Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B who underwent interferon therapy despite similar duration of follow-up.