Prevalence of serum HBsAg <100 IU/mL in inactive chronic hepatitis B

Serum hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels <100 IU/mL have been proposed as one of the key criteria for the partial cure of chronic HBV infection, which is regarded as a more feasible clinical endpoint for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).1 In a recent study by Tseng et al , which explored the association between serum HBsAg levels and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) risk in patients with inactive CHB, the importance of serum HBsAg in predicting long-term HCC risk in this population was highlighted.2 During a follow-up period of over 25 years, patients with inactive CHB with serum HBsAg levels <100 IU/mL were found to have a negligible risk of HCC and may not require routine HCC surveillance.2 This study provides important evidence for optimising HCC surveillance strategies in CHB management. Although the study underscores the significance of serum HBsAg <100 IU/mL in predicting HCC risk among patients with inactive CHB, data on the prevalence of such low HBsAg levels in this population remain limited. Therefore, to address this gap, we analysed data from a large, multicentre real-world cohort to determine the proportion and clinical characteristics of treatment-naïve …