Search

Patients with chronic hepatitis B are randomly assigned to receive some amount of telbivudine or lamivudine once daily and the primary efficacy end point is noninferiority of telbivudine to lamivudine for therapeutic response. Telbivudine demonstrated greater HBV DNA suppression with less resistance than did lamivudine in both the HBeAg-negative and the HBeAg-positive groups of patients.

A prospective, randomized, multicenter noninferiority study comparing the regiments of tenofovir DF, emtricitabine and efavirenz and a fixed dose of zidovudine and lamivudine plus efavirenz were conducted. Results revealed that the combination of tenofovir DF and emtricitabine plus efavirenz fulfilled the criteria for noninferiority to a fixed dose of zidovudine and lamivudine plus efavirenz and proved superior in terms of virologic suppression, CD4 response, and adverse events resulting in discontinuation of the study drugs.

The efficacy and safety of pegylated interferon alpha plus lamivudine, pegylated alfa without lamivudine, and lamivudine alone for the treatment of hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive hepatitis B are compared. It is concluded that in patients with HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B, peginterferon alfa-2a offers superior efficacy over lamivudine, on the basis of HBeAg seroconversion, HBV DNA suppression and HBsAg seroconversion.

Patients with chronic hepatitis B who had histologically confirmed cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis were observed to study the effectiveness of antiviral therapy in preventing disease progression in such patients. Continuous treatment with lamivudine delays clinical progression in patients with chronic hepatitis B and advanced fibrosis or cirrhosis by significantly reducing the incidence of hepatic decompensation and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma.