Long-term efficacy of tenofovir monotherapy for hepatitis B virus-monoinfected patients after failure of nucleoside/nucleotide analogues

✍ Scribed by Florian van Bömmel; Robert A. de Man; Heiner Wedemeyer; Katja Deterding; Jörg Petersen; Peter Buggisch; Andreas Erhardt; Dietrich Hüppe; Kerstin Stein; Jörg Trojan; Christoph Sarrazin; Wulf O. Böcher; Ulrich Spengler; Hermann E. Wasmuth; Jurrien G.P. Reinders; Bernd Möller; Peter Rhode; Heinz-Hubert Feucht; Bertram Wiedenmann; Thomas Berg

• Book ID: 102240373
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2009
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 415 KB
• Volume: 51
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-9139
• DOI: 10.1002/hep.23246

✦ Synopsis

Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) has demonstrated high antiviral efficacy in treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection but experience in nucleoside/nucleotide analogue (NA)-experienced patients is limited. In this retrospective multicenter study we therefore assessed the long-term efficacy of TDF monotherapy in patients with prior failure or resistance to different NA treatments. Criteria for inclusion were HBV DNA levels >4.0 log(10) copies/mL at the start and a minimum period of TDF therapy for at least 6 months. In all, 131 patients (mean age 42 +/- 12 years, 95 male, 65% hepatitis B e antigen [HBeAg]-positive) were eligible. Pretreatment consisted of either monotherapy with lamivudine (LAM; n = 18), adefovir (ADV; n = 8), and sequential LAM-ADV therapy (n = 73), or add-on combination therapy with both drugs (n = 29). Three patients had failed entecavir therapy. Resistance analysis in 113 of the 131 patients revealed genotypic LAM and ADV resistance in 62% and 19% of patients, respectively. The mean HBV DNA level at TDF baseline was 7.6 +/- 1.5 log(10) copies/mL. The overall cumulative proportion of patients achieving HBV DNA levels <400 copies/mL was 79% after a mean treatment duration of 23 months (range, 6-60). Although LAM resistance did not influence the antiviral efficacy of TDF, the presence of ADV resistance impaired TDF efficacy (100% versus 52% probability of HBV DNA <400 copies/mL, respectively). However, virologic breakthrough was not observed in any of the patients during the entire observation period. Loss of HBeAg occurred in 24% of patients and HBsAg loss occurred in 3%. No significant adverse events were noticed during TDF monotherapy.

Conclusion:

Tdf monotherapy induced a potent and long-lasting antiviral response in na-experienced patients with previous treatment failure. our data may have implications for current add-on strategies.