Hepatitis B Reactivation in Patients Positive for Hepatitis B Surface Antigen Undergoing Autologous Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation

Hepatitis due to reactivation of hepatitis B virus is an important cause of liver-related morbidity and mortality in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) positive patients undergoing autologous hematopoeitic cell transplantation. With the recent introduction of sensitive serum HBV DNA quantitation assay, the diagnosis of hepatitis B reactivation can now be made more reliably. As these hepatitis are driven by the host immune response to a surge of hepatitis B viral load, the availability of effective nucleoside analogues which can inhibit hepatitis B viral replication has opened up new approaches to this previously untreatable condition. Up till now, two such nucleoside analogues, lamivudine and adefovir dipivoxil, have been approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B infection. However, further studies are needed to determine which nucleoside analogues should be chosen in this transplant setting. Due to the high dose chemotherapy generally needed in autologous hematopoeitic cell transplantation, ther...