In a study published in the August 2008 issue of Gastroenterology, an international team of investigators evaluated the long-term sustainability of response in hepatitis B "e" antigen (HBeAg) positive chronic hepatitis B patients treated with pegylated interferon alfa-2b (PegIntron) alone or in combination with lamivudine (Epivir-HBV).

All 266 patients enrolled in the HBV99-01 trial were offered the opportunity to participate in a long-term follow-up study. Patients received 100 mcg once-weekly pegylated interferon alone or in combination with 100 mg/day lamivudine for 52 weeks. Initial response was defined as HBeAg negativity at 26 weeks after completion of treatment. A total of 172 participants (65%) opted to join the long-term follow-up study and had 1 additional visit after the initial trial (mean interval 3.0 years).

Results

Based on these findings, the researchers concluded "HBeAg loss after treatment with [pegylated interferon alfa-2b] alone or in combination with lamivudine is sustained in the majority of patients and is associated with a high likelihood of HBsAg loss, particularly in genotype A-infected patients."

Therefore, they added, pegylated interferon "remains an important treatment option" in this era of nucleoside/nucleotide analog therapy.

Erasmus MC University Medical Center Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands; Istanbul University, Istanbul Medical Faculty, Istanbul, Turkey; Medical University Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland; Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Medical Center, Frankfurt, Germany; Istanbul University Cerrahpasa Medical School, Istanbul, Turkey; Princess Margaret Hospital, Hong Kong, China; Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada; University School of Medicine, Kraków, Poland; Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.

9/26/08

Reference
EH Buster, HJ Flink, Y Cakaloglu, and others. Sustained HBeAg and HBsAg loss after long-term follow-up of HBeAg-positive patients treated with peginterferon alpha-2b. Gastroenterology 135(2): 459-467. August 2008. (Abstract).