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World J Hepatol. Jun 27, 2024; 16(6): 900-911
Published online Jun 27, 2024. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v16.i6.900
Hepatitis B cure: Current situation and prospects
Ya-Ping Li, Chen-Rui Liu, Ling He, Shuang-Suo Dang
Ya-Ping Li, Chen-Rui Liu, Ling He, Shuang-Suo Dang, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710004, Shaanxi Province, China
Co-first authors: Ya-Ping Li and Chen-Rui Liu.
Author contributions: Li YP and Liu CR contributed equally to this work; Li YP, Liu CR, and Dang SS collaboratively contributed to the completion of this manuscript; He L is responsible for collecting, summarizing, and organizing reference materials. Dang SS was responsible for the conceptual design of the article; Li YP and Liu CR made equal contribution to this article.
Supported by National Key Research and Development Program of China 2023, No: 2023YFC2308100.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
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: Shuang-Suo Dang, PhD, Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, No. 157 Xiwu Road, Xi’an 710004, Shaanxi Province, China. dang212@126.com
Received: March 24, 2024
Revised: May 5, 2024
Accepted: June 3, 2024
Published online: June 27, 2024
Processing time: 87 Days and 22.2 Hours
Abstract

Achievement of a ‘clinical cure’ in chronic hepatitis B (CHB) implies sustained virological suppression and immunological control over the infection, which is the ideal treatment goal according to domestic and international CHB management guidelines. Clinical practice has shown encouraging results for specific patient cohorts using tailored treatment regimens. These regimens incorporate either nucleos(t)ide analogs, immunomodulatory agents such as pegylated interferon α, or a strategic combination of both, sequentially or concurrently administered. Despite these advancements in the clinical handling of hepatitis B, achieving a clinical cure remains elusive for a considerable subset of patients due to the number of challenges that preclude the realization of optimal treatment outcomes. These include, but are not limited to, the emergence of antiviral resistance, incomplete immune recovery, and the persistence of covalently closed circular DNA. Moreover, the variance in response to interferon therapy and the lack of definitive biomarkers for treatment cessation also contribute to the complexity of achieving a clinical cure. This article briefly overviews the current research progress and existing issues in pursuing a clinical cure for hepatitis B.

Keywords: Chronic hepatitis B; Clinical cure; Polyethylene glycol interferon; Treatment strategies; Research progress

Core Tip: Clinical cure has become an ideal goal pursued by chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. To enable more patients to achieve this goal, immunotherapy targets, the development of drugs targeting the viral life cycle, gene editing technologies, and the application of other methods have promoted the achievement of a clinical cure for CHB; however, this topic warrants continuous exploration.