TUESDAY, Dec. 16, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Entecavir is more efficacious than lamivudine for preventing hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation among patients who are seropositive for the hepatitis B surface antigen with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma receiving rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, vincristine, and prednisone (R-CHOP) chemotherapy treatment. These findings have been published in the Dec. 17 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The researchers found that the incidence of HBV-related hepatitis was
significantly lower in the entecavir group than in the lamivudine group
(0 versus 13.3 percent; P = 0.003). The incidence of HBV reactivation
was also significantly lower in the entecavir group (6.6 versus 30.0
percent; P = 0.001), as was chemotherapy disruption (1.6 versus 18.3
percent; P = 0.002).
"If replicated, these findings support the use of entecavir in these patients," the authors write.
Read more...Labels: B-Cell Lymphoma, entecavir, HBV Reactivation