Consensus on Pegylated Interferon Alpha in Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis B.

Abstract

As advice and consensus on the pegylated-interferon (Peg-IFN) treatment for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) in China, the Expert Advice on Peg-IFN Treatment for CHB was published in the Chinese Journal of Infectious Diseases in 2007, and updated in 2010 and 2012.1,2 Previous versions of the Expert Advice described optimized patients for Peg-IFN treatment (baseline guided therapy; BGT), basic principles of treatment adjustment according to the response to the therapy (response guidance therapy; RGT), dosage adjustment based on adverse effects and symptomatic treatment towards adverse reactions. As a supplement to clinical guidelines of CHB management, Expert Advice has deepened clinicians’ awareness of individualized Peg-IFN treatment for CHB patients, playing a positive role in guiding the rational use of interferon. Seeing as the last update of Expert Advice, following the revised version of China’s CHB Prevention and Treatment Guidelines and international guidelines for the treatment of CHB and expanded clinical research, new evidence from evidence-based medicine and a new concept of Peg-IFN in the treatment of CHB has motivated us to review the previous version of Expert Advice. In 2017, the expert group, under the premise of conforming with the principle of Expert Advice, refined and supplemented some of the suggestions and explored hot issues related to the current Peg-IFN treatment, forming a new version of Expert Consensus on Peg-IFNα in the Treatment of CHB to further standardize the clinical use and improve the efficacy of Peg-IFN therapy to achieve treatment goals.