This morning, Professor Lok AS from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA will give a lecture on the state-of-art of hepatitis B treatment.

 

　　Currently available therapies with nucleos(t)ide analogues (NA) are effective in suppressing HBV replication and decreasing hepatic inflammation and over time can result in reversal of fibrosis and reduction in risk of HCC. However, they could not eradicate HBV and completely eliminate the risk of HCC. Thus, most patients need to remain on treatment for years and often for life to prevent virologic relapse and to derive continued benefit.

 

　　While the new NA, entecavir and tenofovir are associated with very low risk of drug resistance, long-term therapy is expensive and associated with risks of adverse events and non-adherence. Given the limitations of NA therapies, a major challenge in the management of patients with chronic hepatitis B is to determine when to start and when to stop antiviral therapy.

 

　　With improved understanding of HBV biology and host immune response, numerous new antiviral and immunomodulatory therapies are being developed and some are in early phase clinical trials. The challenge is to design efficient clinical trials to prove which of these new therapies is safe, efficacious and acceptable for patients with chronic hepatitis B.

 

Lecture 1 - " Hepatitis B Treatment"

 

10:45 - 11:05

 

Room 1BC