How can qHBsAg predict risk of relapse after stopping NA treatment?

Cessation of NA treatment can be associated with higher rates of HBsAg loss vs continuing treatment, but the risk of relapse is high¹⁴

HBsAg loss was largely restricted to patients with end of treatment HBsAg levels <1,000 IU/ml¹⁴

qHBsAg thresholds as a guide for stopping NA therapy^15,16

Reprinted from Journal of Hepatology, vol 77(S1), Lim SG, et al, Quantitative HBsAg (qHBsAg) as an end point to stop nucleos(t)ide analogues in chronic hepatitis B: a meta-analysis with metaregression, pp. S869, © 2022, with permission from Elsevier. Based on a meta-analysis of 42 studies of HBeAg-negative patients with CHB who had discontinued NA therapy. Random-effects meta-analysis and meta-regression was performed with covariates of ethnicity, end of treatment qHBsAg, duration of NA therapy dichotomised at 24 and 36 months, and duration of follow-up after stopping NA. Please note colour coding for visual purposes only.