High rates of viral suppression after long-term entecavir treatment of Asian patients with hepatitis B e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B.

There are limited data on the effects of long-term entecavir therapy in Asian patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB). We performed a post hoc analysis of 94 Asian hepatitis B e antigen-positive (HBeAg+), nucleos(t)ide analogue-naive patients who received 5 years of therapy with entecavir (up to 2 years in study ETV-022 and the remainder in study ETV-901). Among patients completing week 240, 95% (63 of 66) had levels of hepatitis B virus DNA <300 copies/mL, and 76% (50 of 66) had normalized levels of alanine aminotransferase. In addition to patients who achieved a serologic response during ETV-022, a further 40% (26 of 65) achieved HBeAg loss, and 18% (12 of 65) underwent HBeAg seroconversion through year 5 of entecavir therapy. No resistance to entecavir was detected, and the safety profile was consistent with previous reports. The long-term efficacy and safety of entecavir are therefore comparable between Asians and the overall population of HBeAg+ patients with CHB.