title: Short- and long-term outcome of interferon therapy for chronic hepatitis B infection.
abstract: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a serious clinical problem worldwide. Conventional interferon (IFN)-α has been approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB). Short-term studies have demonstrated that IFN-based therapy is moderately effective in inducing the loss of hepatitis e antigen (HBeAg) or seroconversion (30%-40%) in HBeAg-positive patients and also produces sustained HBV DNA suppression (20%-30%) in HBeAg-negative patients. Many studies have reported a correlation between the HBV genotype and response to IFN treatment. The highest response rate to IFN treatment was found in patients infected with HBV genotype A, followed by HBV genotypes B, C, and D. The long-term effect of IFN-α on CHB has not yet been elucidated. The ability of IFN-α treatment to prevent new cirrhosis, complications associated with cirrhosis, and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is controversial. The beneficial effect of IFN-α treatment in reducing the development of HCC has mainly been observed in treatment responders who already have cirrhosis. These inconsistent findings may be attributed to the inevitable limitations of comparisons across studies, including differences in the baseline characteristics of the study and the moderate suppression of HBV replication by IFN-α relative to nucleoside/nucleos(t)ide analogs.
authors.affiliation: Yasushi Seo, Yoshihiko Yano, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.affiliation: Yasushi Seo, Yoshihiko Yano, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, Kobe 650-0017, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshihiko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yano
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000097:blood; D018450:Disease Progression; D005838:Genotype; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006515:Hepatitis B virus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D019694:Hepatitis B, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008103:Liver Cirrhosis / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000821:virology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load; D014779:Virus Replication
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D015415:Biomarkers; D004279:DNA, Viral; D006513:Hepatitis B e Antigens; D016898:Interferon-alpha
keywords: Chronic hepatitis B; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatocellular carcinoma; Interferon α; Long-term outcome