Baseline and on-treatment predictors of chronic hepatitis B patients receiving pegylated interferon therapy in Asia

Abstract

Of currently available drugs for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B, pegylated interferon (peg-IFN) offers the highest rate of off-treatment sustained response with the finite course of treatment in the absence of viral resistance. However, its clinical use is compromised by the frequent occurrence of side-effects and the uncertainty as to whether a patient will actually benefit from this treatment. It is therefore a major challenge to identify accurate predictors of sustained response to peg-IFN. These are essential for selecting the optimal candidates for peg-IFN therapy, as well as for making decisions of termination of treatment for nonresponders. This article reviews the recent knowledge focusing on the following topics: baseline and on-treatment viral and host factors in the response to peg-IFN therapy, as well as response-guided therapy for chronic hepatitis B, particularly in the Asian population. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media New York.