The relapse rates of different duration of extended consolidation therapy after withdrawal of nucleos(t)ide analogues treatment in patients with chronic Hepatitis B

Objective To retrospectively investigate the relapse rates of different duration of extended consolidation after withdrawal of nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who met NAs cessation criteria. Methods 102 CHB patients discontinued treatment according to NAs cessation criteria or extended duration of consolidation therapy after meeting the cessation criteria. 30 patients meeting the cessation criteria were Group A. 72 patients extending consolidation therapy after meeting the cessation criteria were Group B. Based on different duration of extended consolidation therapy, 72 patients were divided into 3 groups. Patients with a duration of extended 12 months after meeting NAs cessation criteria were Group B1. Patients with a duration of extended 24 months were Group B2. Patients with duration of extended 36 months were Group B3. After cessation of NAs treatment, the cumulative relapse of different group was calculated by the Kaplan-Meier method. The cumulative relapses between the selected groups were analyzed with Log-rank test. Results The cumulative relapse rates after 6, 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48 months after cessation of NAs treatment were 52.3%, 70.0%, 74.3%, 76.7%, 82.4% and 88.4% in Group A; 24.0%, 38.8%, 40.6%, 43.3%, 43.3% and 43.3% in Group B; respectively. The relapse rate of Group B was much lower than that of Group A. The cumulative relapse rates after 6, 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48 months after cessation of NAs treatment were 35.0%, 48.2%, 51.9%, 57.9%, 57.9% and 57.9% in Group B1; 18.1%, 30.7%, 30.7%, 30.7%, 30.7% in Group B2; 7.1%, 21.4%, 21.4%, 21.4% in group B3; respectively. The relapse rate of Group B1 was the highest, the following was of Group B2, and of Group B3 was the lowest one. The total amount of relapse in Group A, B1, B2 and B3 was 26, 21, 5 and 3 respectively. Conclusions A longer duration of extended consolidation therapy after meeting NAs cessation criteria may contribute to the lower relapse rates. Key words: Hepatitis B, chronic; Nucleosides; Treatment outcome; Adefovirdipivoxil; HBeAg-positive