title: Future Therapy for Hepatitis B Virus: Role of Immunomodulators.
abstract: Although currently available therapies for chronic hepatitis B virus infection can suppress viremia and provide long-term benefits for patients, they do not lead to a functional cure for most patients. Advances in our understanding of the virus-host interaction and the recent remarkable success of immunotherapy in cancer offer new and promising strategies for developing immune modulators that may become important components of a total therapeutic approach to hepatitis B, some of which are now in clinical development. Among the immunomodulatory agents currently being investigated to combat chronic HBV are toll-like receptor agonists, immune checkpoint inhibitors, therapeutic vaccines, and engineered T cells. The efficacy of some immune modulatory therapies is compromised by high viral antigen levels. Cutting edge strategies, including RNA interference and CRISPR/Cas9, are now being studied that may ultimately be shown to have the capacity to lower viral antigen levels sufficiently to substantially increase the efficacy of these agents. The current advances in therapies for chronic hepatitis B are leading us toward the possibility of a functional cure.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA ; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA.
authors.forename: Edward A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Pham
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA.
authors.forename: Ryan B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Perumpail
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA.
authors.forename: Benjamin J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Fram
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA ; Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA ; Veterans Administration Medical Center, Palo Alto, CA USA.
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Glenn
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA.
authors.forename: Aijaz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA USA ; Hepatitis B Foundation, Doylestown, PA USA.
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Gish
keywords: CRISPR/Cas9; Checkpoint inhibitors; Engineered T cells; Hepatitis B; Immune modulators; RNA interference; Therapeutic vaccines; Toll-like receptor agonists