How is hepatitis B treated?

There are a variety of treatments for hepatitis B, most of which are long-term. Liver transplant surgeon Robert Brown, MD, discusses two medications that suppress the virus in 90 percent of patients.

Transcript

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These are oral, once-a-day medications that have virtually no side effects.

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The issue with these drugs is they have to be taken for a prolonged period of time, sometimes indefinitely.

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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The options for treatment for hepatitis B include both interferon and oral medications.

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The advantage of interferon is that it is only one year of therapy, but it is an injectable

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with significant side effects. There are several oral therapies for hepatitis B,

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and they include both nucleoside and nucleotide drugs. These are oral, once-a-day medications that

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have virtually no side effects. The issue with these drugs is they have to be taken for a prolonged period of time,

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sometimes indefinitely. But they are very effective at suppressing the virus

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to undetectable levels and preventing progression of disease or reversing existing liver

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damage. The two most common oral drugs for hepatitis B are tenofovir and in entecavir.

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These two drugs are preferred because they are very potent and have low rates of resistance.

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In five years of study with both drugs, over 90% of patients remain completely suppressed with a less than 1%

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rate of development of resistance of the virus. Thus, one drug can keep patients suppressed

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for prolonged periods of time without side effects. [AUDIO LOGO]