TY - JOUR
T1 - Toward a complete cure for chronic hepatitis B
T2 - Novel therapeutic targets for hepatitis B virus
AU - Kim, Sun Woong
AU - Yoon, Jun Sik
AU - Lee, Minjong
AU - Cho, Yuri
N1 - Funding Information:
public of Korea (No. HI21C0240), and the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korea government (No. 2021R1A2C4001401).
Funding Information:
This research was supported by a grant of the Korea Health Technology R&D Project through the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, funded by the Ministry of Health & Welfare, Re-
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by Korean Association for the Study of the Liver.
PY - 2022/1
Y1 - 2022/1
N2 - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects approximately 250 million patients worldwide, resulting in the progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which are serious public health problems. Although universal vaccination programs exist, they are only prophylactic and not curative. In the HBV life cycle, HBV forms covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which is the viral minichromosome, in the nuclei of human hepatocytes and makes it difficult to achieve a complete cure with the current nucleos(t)ide analogs and interferon therapies. Current antiviral therapies rarely eliminate cccDNA; therefore, lifelong antiviral treatment is necessary. Recent trials for antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B have been focused on establishing a functional cure, defined by either the loss of hepatitis B surface antigen, undetectable serum HBV DNA levels, and/or seroconversion to hepatitis B surface antibody. Novel therapeutic targets and molecules are in the pipeline for early clinical trials aiming to cure HBV infection. The ideal strategy for achieving a long-lasting functional or complete cure might be using combination therapies targeting different steps of the HBV life cycle and immunomodulators. This review summarizes the current knowledge about novel treatments and combination treatments for a complete HBV cure. (Clin Mol Hepatol 2022;28:17-30).
AB - Hepatitis B virus (HBV) affects approximately 250 million patients worldwide, resulting in the progression to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, which are serious public health problems. Although universal vaccination programs exist, they are only prophylactic and not curative. In the HBV life cycle, HBV forms covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which is the viral minichromosome, in the nuclei of human hepatocytes and makes it difficult to achieve a complete cure with the current nucleos(t)ide analogs and interferon therapies. Current antiviral therapies rarely eliminate cccDNA; therefore, lifelong antiviral treatment is necessary. Recent trials for antiviral treatment of chronic hepatitis B have been focused on establishing a functional cure, defined by either the loss of hepatitis B surface antigen, undetectable serum HBV DNA levels, and/or seroconversion to hepatitis B surface antibody. Novel therapeutic targets and molecules are in the pipeline for early clinical trials aiming to cure HBV infection. The ideal strategy for achieving a long-lasting functional or complete cure might be using combination therapies targeting different steps of the HBV life cycle and immunomodulators. This review summarizes the current knowledge about novel treatments and combination treatments for a complete HBV cure. (Clin Mol Hepatol 2022;28:17-30).
KW - Antiviral therapy
KW - Complete cure
KW - Hepatitis B virus
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85123255889&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3350/cmh.2021.0093
DO - 10.3350/cmh.2021.0093
M3 - Article
C2 - 34281294
AN - SCOPUS:85123255889
SN - 2287-2728
VL - 28
SP - 17
EP - 30
JO - Clinical and molecular hepatology
JF - Clinical and molecular hepatology
IS - 1
ER -
