The concept that antiviral therapy is the most critical treatment for chronic hepatitis B has been accepted by the majority of patients. However, some patients often ask: I have been using antiviral therapy for a long time, and the results are good now, and my disease has been stable, so can I stop taking it? The antiviral program of hepatitis B mainly includes interferon-based treatment, and nucleoside analogue-based treatment, we may start from these two types of treatment, to see the antiviral discontinuation criteria of hepatitis B. 1, interferon antiviral discontinuation criteria ordinary interferon, 3 times a week or every other day, subcutaneous injection, the general course of treatment for 6 months, if there is a response, in order to improve the efficacy can also extend the course of treatment to 1 year or longer. The dose and duration of treatment may be adjusted according to the patient’s response and tolerance. If there is no response after 6 months of treatment, the drug is discontinued and may be changed to other antiviral drugs or combined with other antiviral drugs. PEGylated interferon (Pelanen or Peroxin) is given once a week for 1 year. As for whether to stop the drug after 1 year of treatment, it depends on the dynamic changes of HBsAg, HBeAg, HBV DNA and other viral replication indicators, to determine whether it is possible to obtain further efficacy by continuing the drug, and to extend the course of treatment appropriately if it is expected to obtain better efficacy by extending the course of treatment. 2, nucleoside analog antiviral discontinuation criteria e antigen-positive chronic hepatitis B patients, after reaching DNA conversion, ALT normalization, e antigen serological conversion, to be treated for at least 1 year, which is the so-called consolidation therapy, during which there should be at least two monitoring, each interval of six months, if the efficacy has been maintained, that is, consolidation therapy can be discontinued after at least one year. At the same time, we emphasize that the total course of treatment should be at least two years, and some patients may have a negative DNA conversion at the end of six months of treatment, as well as an e antigen serological conversion. With these two criteria to qualify, many patients will be able to achieve both good efficacy to reach discontinuation and will greatly reduce relapse after discontinuation. For patients with e antigen-negative chronic hepatitis B, in principle, those who continue treatment for at least another year and a half (after at least three retests, each at an interval of 6 months) and remain unchanged, and whose total course of treatment has reached at least 2.5 years, may be considered for discontinuation. However, due to the high relapse rate after discontinuation, it is recommended to extend the course of treatment. In patients with cirrhosis, the goal of antiviral therapy is to delay or reduce the occurrence of liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. Because of the need for long-term treatment, the criteria for discontinuing the drug are unclear. 3. The danger of premature discontinuation Hepatitis B treatment is a protracted war, the course of antiviral treatment should be more than 1 year, and the drug should never be discontinued casually during treatment. During the antiviral treatment period, you should remember to review your liver function, HBV DNA, ultrasound and other indicators every 3 months. Although the current oral antiviral therapy cannot kill the hepatitis B virus, it can inhibit the replication of the virus, maintain long-term stability, delay or stop the progress of the disease, and enable patients to work and live normally. If the drug is stopped prematurely, the hepatitis B virus may replicate again in large quantities, causing more serious damage to the liver, leading to liver function loss, liver fibrosis, liver cirrhosis and even liver cancer. 4.Do I have to stop the medication if I reach the criteria for stopping it? Some patients may ask, “I have reached the above criteria for antiviral treatment, do I have to stop the medication? It should be pointed out that the standard of discontinuation is not necessarily to stop the drug. For example, for patients treated with interferon, studies have shown that extended treatment can further improve the efficacy, so after a full 1-year course of treatment, doctors should also judge that continued use of medication is likely to achieve further efficacy based on the dynamic changes in HBsAg, HBeAg, HBV DNA and other viral replication indicators, and extend the course of treatment appropriately if it is expected to achieve better efficacy by extending the course of treatment. For patients treated with nucleoside analogues, if they are “major triple-positive” before treatment, that is, e antigen-positive, if they stop taking the drug without reaching the discontinuation criteria, 70%-80% of patients will relapse; if they stop taking the drug after reaching the discontinuation criteria, the relapse rate is about 20%-30%, which means that even if they reach the discontinuation criteria, there is still a certain percentage of relapse after stopping the drug. That is to say, even if the discontinuation criteria are met, there is still a certain percentage of recurrence after discontinuation. In other words, even if the criteria for discontinuation are met, there is still a certain percentage of relapse after discontinuation. If the patient was a “small triplet” before treatment, there will be 50-60% relapse after the criteria for discontinuation are met. Therefore, for patients treated with nucleoside analogs, even if the discontinuation criteria are met, it is recommended to extend the course of treatment if conditions allow. If you choose to discontinue the drug, you should follow up closely after discontinuation, usually every 1-2 months for one year after discontinuation, and resume antiviral therapy in case of relapse.