Long-term outcome of entecavir treatment of nucleos(t)ide analogue-naïve chronic hepatitis B patients in Japan.

BACKGROUND: We determined the antiviral potency and viral breakthrough rate after 10 years of continuous entecavir treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection.

METHODS: The cumulative rates of undetectable hepatitis B virus DNA (HBV-DNA, < 2.1 log copies/mL), alanine aminotransferase (ALT) normalization, hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg) seroclearance, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance, and viral breakthrough of 1094 nucleos(t)ide analogue-naïve CHB patients (HBeAg-positive: 47%) who were on continuous entecavir treatment for 10 years were calculated.

RESULTS: The median age was 50 years and follow-up period was 5.5 years, with 999, 804, 591, 390, 182 and 87 patients followed up for at least 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 10 years, respectively. Incremental increases were noted in the rates of undetectable HBV-DNA, ALT normalization, HBeAg seroclearance, and HBsAg seroclearance, reaching 96, 79, 38 and 3.7%, respectively, by the tenth year. The mean decline in HBsAg level from baseline was - 0.08 log IU/mL/year. Multivariate analysis identified HBsAg level and genotype (A) as independent predictors of HBsAg seroclearance. Sixteen patients experienced viral breakthrough. The cumulative percentages of patients with viral breakthrough analyzed by the Kaplan-Meier test were 1.5 and 2.5% at years 5 and 10, respectively. There were no serious adverse events during treatment.

CONCLUSIONS: Long-term entecavir treatment of nucleos(t)ide analogue-naïve CHB patients was associated with an excellent viral response and a low rate of entecavir-resistant mutations at 10 years. Baseline HBsAg levels and genotype were predictors of HBsAg seroclearance during entecavir treatment.