We determined the clinical outcome of hepatitis e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B patients treated with long-term nucleos(t)ide analog therapy starting with lamivudine. We evaluated 201 such patients treated for 3.8 ؎ 1.4 years and 2 historical similar cohorts: 1 treated with interferon-alfa (n ؍ 209) and 1 untreated (n ؍ 195). Virological or biochemical remission rate at 48 months under lamivudine was 34% or 36%, respectively, whereas adefovir was administered in 79 patients with virological-biochemical breakthroughs or no response. Of the lamivudinetreated patients, 4 died, 1 underwent a transplantation, and another 8 developed major events, all having advanced fibrosis at baseline and all but 1 having experienced breakthroughs or no response. At 5 years, survival was 96%, and major event-free survival was 93%. The major event-free survival was significantly better in patients with than in those without virological remission under lamivudine. At the end of follow-up, both survival and major event-free survival were independently associated with type of and response to treatment, being significantly better in patients under long-term antiviral therapy or interferon sustained responders than in interferon non-sustained responders or untreated cases (5-year survival: 96% or 98% vs. 88% or 90%, respectively). In conclusion, in HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B, long-term nucleos(t)ide analog therapy starting with lamivudine significantly improves survival and reduces the risk of major complications, compared with interferon non-sustained responders or untreated patients. In such patients with advanced fibrosis, close follow-up for lamivudine resistance and prompt onset of additional antiviral therapy is required or the ab initio use of agent(s) with low resistance rates should be considered. (HEPATOLOGY 2005;42:121-129.) H epatitis e antigen (HBeAg)-negative chronic hepatitis B (CHB) represents a rather late phase in the course of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection 1,2 usually associated with replication of HBV variants that are unable to produce HBeAg because of mutations either at the precore or basic core promoter region of the viral genome. 2,3 HBeAg-negative CHB is a potentially severe and progressive form of chronic liver disease with rare spontaneous remissions, frequent progression to cirrhosis, and increased risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). [4][5][6][7] The management of CHB has improved over the last years with the addition of lamivudine and more recently adefovir dipivoxil (ADV), but it is still suboptimal in achieving sustained off-therapy responses. [8][9][10][11] In particular in HBeAg-negative CHB, interferon-alfa (IFN␣), the first available effective therapeutic option in CHB, is the agent offering the higher chances for sustained-off therapy response ranging between 18% and 30%. 10-13 Conversely, both lamivudine and ADV, 2 oral, safe, and well-
