HBsAg quantification predicts off-treatment response to interferon in chronic hepatitis B patients：A retrospective study of 250 cases

Abstract

Background: For chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients without willingness to extend the routine duration of interferon (IFN) therapy, it is important to identify patients who will benefit from treatment cessation. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) quantification is recommended for management of IFN therapy. At present, the understanding on end-of-treatment (EOT) HBsAg level predicting posttreatment response to IFN is still finite. Methods: Patients with CHB infection and treated with IFNbased therapy during the period from December 2010 to December 2017 at Nanfang Hospital were enrolled in this study. Serum HBsAg levels at EOT were measured to evaluate the associations between EOT HBsAg levels (Group 1, HBsAg >0.05 and ≤10 IU/mL; Group 2, HBsAg >10 and ≤200