Editorial: biomarkers in HBV and prediction of treatment response

Abstract

Hepatitis B cure is clinically defined as persistently undetectable HBsAg and hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA in serum, with or without seroconversion to hepatitis B surface antibody (anti-HBs). Several definitions of HBV cure have been proposed, based on laboratory findings.1,2 Prediction of treatment response is a key issue in HBV management. Baseline and on-treatment predictors are needed as stopping rules, especially for pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN). Several new biomarkers such as HBV RNA, quantitative HBsAg (qHBsAg) and quantitative HBV core-related antigen (qHBcrAg) have been evaluated to predict HBeAg and HBsAg loss and relapse after cessa-tion of nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs).1