Evaluation of Hepatitis B screening and reactivation in patients receiving rituximab containing chemotherapy: A single‐centre study

Abstract

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide distributing viral disease. It is estimated that over than 250 million people are chronically infected with HBV. 1 Hepatitis B core antibody (AntiHBc) prevalence is considered to be higher particularly in endemic countries. 2 Because of that reason HBV reactivation may be common in endemic areas among patients who require immunosuppressant therapy. In the settings of Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) clearance from circulation. viral genome continues to exists, therefore previous contact remains a prominent factor for reactivation. 3 The first HBV reactivation has been defined in 1975. 4 Immunosuppressive drugs lead increased viral replication. Infected hepatocytes are the potential targets for the cytotoxic T lymphocytes that induce hepatocytes damage during the recovery periods between chemotherapy applications or after cessation of

Patients treated with rituximab are poorly screened for hepatitis B infection: Data from a low-incidence country

“…However, multivariate analysis demonstrated that ethnicity was not associated with screening performance. Finally, our findings might only be generalizable to other low-endemic countries, although similar HBV screening rates were reported in both low-and higher-risk areas as well [16,18,21].…”

“…Nevertheless, findings from several studies suggest that screening might be performed sub optimally (Supplementary Table) [16][17][18][19][20][21]. In the Netherlands, a low endemic country, data on the screening rates among patients treated with high risk immunosuppressive agents are lacking.…”

Screening for viral hepatitis B infection in cancer patients before receiving chemotherapy – A systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…Among the 29 studies, six conference abstracts 26,[29][30][31]35,43 with sufficient information on HBV screening counts were also included. The studies reported hematologic malignancy (10 studies), [27][28][29][30]34,41,43,45,48,54 solid malignancy (four studies), 31,44,47,50 or a combination of both (15 studies). 26,32,33,[35][36][37][38][39][40]42,46,49,[51][52][53] The studies also included rituximab-containing (seven studies), 27,28,30,34,41,43,54 non-rituximab (four studies), 31,42,44,46 or both regimens (seven studies), 32,33,36,…”

“…The studies reported hematologic malignancy (10 studies), [27][28][29][30]34,41,43,45,48,54 solid malignancy (four studies), 31,44,47,50 or a combination of both (15 studies). 26,32,33,[35][36][37][38][39][40]42,46,49,[51][52][53] The studies also included rituximab-containing (seven studies), 27,28,30,34,41,43,54 non-rituximab (four studies), 31,42,44,46 or both regimens (seven studies), 32,33,36,38,40,48,49 and the remaining 11 studies did not specify chemotherapy types. 26,29,34,…”

Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Inhibitors Increase the Risk of Hepatitis B Virus Reactivation in Patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis

“…2 There is evidence that chemotherapy can cause HBVr in patients with hematological malignancies. 3,4 HBVr can also occur in patients with rheumatic diseases undergoing immunosuppressive treatment. It is worth noting that biologics such as abatacept or rituximab can increase the risk of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) reverse seroconversion (RS) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with resolved hepatitis B.…”