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Switching to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is more efficacious than continuing entecavir (ETV) for achieving an optimal response in patients with chronic hepatitis B with a partial virologic response to ETV, according to a multicenter, open-label, randomized controlled study published in the Journal of Viral Hepatitis.
No studies have directly compared the efficacy of switching from ETV to TDF with that of continuing ETV; therefore, researchers prospectively compared the efficacy of switching to TDF in 22 patients with chronic hepatitis B who had been receiving 0.5 mg ETV for more than 12 months but who still had detectable hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA levels >60 IU/mL with 23 patients who continued treatment with ETV.
The researchers found that the virologic response rate was significantly higher in the TDF group than in the ETV group after 12 months of treatment. In addition, the reduction in HBV DNA was greater, and the mean HBV DNA was lower, in the TDF group than in the ETV group.