1-year follow-up results of the OSST study A study recently completed by Professor Ning Qin and his team at Tongji Hospital, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China, showed that switching to a limited course of pegylated interferon (PEG-IFNα-2a) therapy in patients who did not achieve HBeAg seroconversion with long-term entecavir (ETV) therapy resulted in HBeAg seroconversion in a significant proportion of patients The majority of patients who achieved HBeAg seroconversion and HBsAg clearance maintained response during the 1-year follow-up period after the end of treatment. Previous OSST studies have shown that conversion to PEG-IFNα-2a therapy in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients on long-term treatment with ETV results in higher HBeAg serologic conversion and HBsAg clearance compared with continued ETV. The investigators continued follow-up for 48 weeks in 62 patients who completed 48 weeks of PEG-IFNα-2a treatment, with the primary endpoint of HBeAg serologic conversion and maintenance of response and secondary endpoints including HBsAg clearance, HBV DNA <1000 copies/mL, and return to normal ALT. The study showed that the rate of HBeAg seroconversion increased from 17.7% (11/62) at the end of treatment to 38.7% (24/62) at 1 year of follow-up after the end of treatment, the maintenance response rate for those who achieved HBeAg seroconversion at the end of treatment was 63.6% (7/11), and 33.3% (17/51) of those who did not achieve HBeAg seroconversion at the end of treatment Six of the seven patients demonstrated sustained HBsAg clearance, and the rate of sustained HBV DNA suppression was 60% (27/45) for those who achieved HBV DNA suppression at the end of treatment.) Link to original article: Han