Sustained Responses in Chronic Hepatitis B Patients with Nucleos(t)ide Analogue Drug-resistance after Peg-interferon Alfa-2a Add-on Treatment:A Long-term Cohort Study

摘要

Background and Aims:The use of additional nucleos(t)ide analogues(NAs)without cross-resistance to previously used NAs as a rescue therapy is recommended by most international guidelines for chronic hepatitis B patients with NAresistance.We aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of combination therapy of peg-interferon(PegIFN)alfa-2a and NA in these patients,comparing to those who switch to an alternative NA therapy without cross-resistance.Methods:In this prospective,comparative and cohort study,data were collected from the patients''hospital records.Eligible patients were those with hepatitis B e antigen(HBeAg)positivity and resistance to one or more NAs.All patients were treated with alternative NA alone or in combination with PegIFN alfa-2a for 52 weeks or 72 weeks,respectively.HBeAg seroconversion was measured at the end of follow-up(EOF;more than 104 weeks after the end of treatment).Results:Sixty-three patients were recruited to the cohort study(NAtherapy group=31 patients;combination therapy group of NA and PegIFN alfa-2a=32 patients).At the EOF,significantly more patients in the combination therapy group(13/27,48.2%)achieved primary outcome of HBeAg seroconversion than those in the NA therapy group(4/32,12.5%)(p=0.003).Four patients(14.8%)in the combination therapy group achieved hepatitis B surface antigen(HBsAg)loss and HBsAg seroconversion,but none in the NA therapy group did(p=0.039).In the combination therapy group,16 patients(51.6%)achieved HBeAg seroconversion at the end of treatment,of which,11 patients(68.8%)maintained the response until EOF.Conclusions:Adding on PegIFN alfa-2a in combination with NA therapy might be an appropriate rescue treatment option for patients who have prior NA resistance.In addition,combination therapy induced sustained off-treatment biochemical responses in these patients.