Author information

¹Department of Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, 150 East 32nd Street, Suite 101, New York, NY 10016, USA; New York University Langone Transplant Institute, 317 East 34th Street, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016, USA. Electronic address: feng.su@nyulangone.org.

²Department of Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, 150 East 32nd Street, Suite 101, New York, NY 10016, USA.

Abstract

The main aim of antiviral therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is to prevent disease progression and reduce the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In general, treatment is recommended for select patient groups viewed as being at higher risk of developing adverse outcomes from CHB. However, patients who do not meet treatment criteria under current international guidelines may still benefit from antiviral therapy to reduce CHB-related complications. Moreover, well-tolerated antiviral drugs that are highly effective at suppressing viral replication are now widely available, and withholding therapy from patients with viremia is increasingly controversial. In this article, we review traditional treatment paradigms and argue the merits of expanding treatment eligibility to patients with CHB who do not meet current treatment criteria.