There are two classes of hepatitis B antivirals: interferon analogs and nucleoside analogs. Interferon therapy is a limited course of treatment and can be maintained for a long time after discontinuation if the treatment is effective; nucleoside analogs usually require long-term or even lifelong treatment and have a higher relapse rate after discontinuation. However, nucleoside analogs are oral drugs that are more convenient to take and have a stronger viral inhibitory effect, while being relatively inexpensive, so more patients are receiving these drugs, and data show that nearly 70% of patients with chronic hepatitis B in China are receiving nucleoside analogs. As the duration of medication increases, the expectation of patients to discontinue their medication grows stronger, but they often face a relapse of the disease when they hastily stop taking the medication. Patients who see patients receiving interferon therapy stop taking the drug long after the course of treatment wonder: Can I stop if I switch to interferon therapy? In fact, medical experts share the same hypothesis and have confirmed through clinical studies that some patients on long-term nucleoside analog therapy who receive long-acting interferon therapy can improve their e antigen conversion rate and surface antigen clearance rate and achieve their discontinuation expectations. What kind of patients can be such lucky ones? The results of a large study in entecavir-treated patients with chronic hepatitis B showed that patients with undetectable virology, e antigen clearance and relatively low surface antigen levels treated with entecavir could achieve a 25% surface antigen clearance rate with long-acting interferon alpha-2a. Treatment of chronic hepatitis B patients on long-term nucleoside analog therapy with interferon is an effective strategy to achieve safe drug discontinuation and is worth trying for patients who expect to discontinue the drug. If virology has fallen below the lower limit of detection and e antigen clearance after nucleoside analog therapy, you can consult your physician and test for indicated antigen levels during follow-up, and once you find that surface antigen has reached a relatively low level you can consider trying long-acting interferon therapy for safe discontinuation.