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©The Author(s) 2025. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Nov 28, 2025; 31(44): 112719
Published online Nov 28, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i44.112719
Published online Nov 28, 2025. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v31.i44.112719
Retreatment hepatitis B surface antigen clearance prediction model identifies pegylated interferon alpha candidates in chronic hepatitis B
Yan-Chao Fu, Jia-Yin Wang, Chao Yang, Jing Liang, Qing Ye, Hui-Ling Xiang, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tianjin University Central Hospital (Tianjin Third Central Hospital), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Extracorporeal Life Support for Critical Diseases, Institute of Hepatobiliary Disease, Tianjin 300170, China
Jun Li, Yi-Wen Zhang, Fei Yan, Jing Chen, The Third Central Clinical College of Tianjin Medical University, Tianjin University Central Hospital (Tianjin Third Central Hospital), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Extracorporeal Life Support for Critical Diseases, Institute of Hepatobiliary Disease, Tianjin 300170, China
Qin Du, Nankai University Affiliated Third Central Hospital, Tianjin University Central Hospital (Tianjin Third Central Hospital), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Extracorporeal Life Support for Critical Diseases, Institute of Hepatobiliary Disease, Tianjin 300170, China
Co-first authors: Yan-Chao Fu and Jun Li.
Author contributions: Fu YC, Li J and Wang JY contributed equally to manuscript drafting, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, and visualization; Zhang YW, Yan F, Chen J, Du Q, Yang C, Liang J and Ye Q participated in manuscript revision, data curation, and investigation; Xiang HL designed the study, acquired funding, supervised the project, and revised the manuscript.
Supported by the Tianjin Health Research Project (Key Project), No. TJWJ2024ZD004; and Tianjin Key Medical Discipline (Specialty) Construction Project, No. TJYXZDXK-034A.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of Tianjin Third Central Hospital (No. IRB2020-015-01).
Informed consent statement: The requirement for written informed consent was formally waived by the Medical Ethics Committee of Tianjin Third Central Hospital, as this retrospective cohort study used anonymized medical records without additional specimen collection or impact on patient treatment/prognosis, in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki (1975) and national regulations on real-world data research.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement—a checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-a checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors, without undue reservation.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Hui-Ling Xiang, MD, Doctor, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Tianjin University Central Hospital (Tianjin Third Central Hospital), Tianjin Key Laboratory of Extracorporeal Life Support for Critical Diseases, Institute of Hepatobiliary Disease, No. 83 Jintang Road, Hedong District, Tianjin 300170, China. huilingxiang@163.com
Received: August 5, 2025
Revised: September 14, 2025
Accepted: October 24, 2025
Published online: November 28, 2025
Processing time: 115 Days and 17.6 Hours
Revised: September 14, 2025
Accepted: October 24, 2025
Published online: November 28, 2025
Processing time: 115 Days and 17.6 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This pioneering study developed the first predictive model (retreatment hepatitis B surface antigen clearance prediction score) for hepatitis B surface antigen clearance during pegylated interferon retreatment in chronic hepatitis B. Analyzing 135 patients, we found that retreatment candidates scoring ≥ 110 points achieved dramatically higher clearance rates (81% vs 3.45% in low-scorers). Key predictors included pegylated interferon monotherapy, substantial initial hepatitis B surface antigen decline, extended treatment intervals, and lower retreatment baseline hepatitis B surface antigen. The model enables precision selection to avoid futile therapy in 97% of non-responders.