Colapietro F, Pugliese N, Voza A, Aghemo A, De Nicola S. Risk of hepatitis B virus reactivation in oncological patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors: A case report and literature analysis. World J Gastroenterol 2024; 30(9): 1253-1256 [PMID: 38577192 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i9.1253]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Francesca Colapietro, MD, Doctor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Via Rita Levi Montalcini 4, Milan 20072, Italy. francesca.colapietro@humanitas.it
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Letter to the Editor
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Mar 7, 2024; 30(9): 1253-1256 Published online Mar 7, 2024. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i9.1253
Risk of hepatitis B virus reactivation in oncological patients treated with tyrosine kinase inhibitors: A case report and literature analysis
Francesca Colapietro, Nicola Pugliese, Antonio Voza, Alessio Aghemo, Stella De Nicola
Francesca Colapietro, Nicola Pugliese, Antonio Voza, Alessio Aghemo, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Milan 20072, Italy
Francesca Colapietro, Nicola Pugliese, Alessio Aghemo, Stella De Nicola, Division of Internal Medicine and Hepatology, Department of Gastroenterology, Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan 20089, Italy
Antonio Voza, Department of Emergency, Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan 20089, Italy
Author contributions: Colapietro F, Aghemo A, and De Nicola S contributed to the study conception and design; Colapietro F and De Nicola S were involved in the data collection; Colapietro F, Pugliese N, Voza A, Aghemo A, and De Nicola S participated in the analysis and interpretation of results, and draft manuscript preparation; and all authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Francesca Colapietro, MD, Doctor, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Via Rita Levi Montalcini 4, Milan 20072, Italy. francesca.colapietro@humanitas.it
Received: December 15, 2023 Peer-review started: December 15, 2023 First decision: January 4, 2024 Revised: January 11, 2024 Accepted: February 18, 2024 Article in press: February 18, 2024 Published online: March 7, 2024
Abstract
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation (HBVr) represents a severe and potentially life-threatening condition, and preventive measures are available through blood test screening or prophylactic therapy administration. The assessment of HBVr traditionally considers factors such as HBV profile, including hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody to hepatitis B core antigen, along with type of medication (chemotherapy; immunomodulants). Nevertheless, consideration of possible patient’s underlying tumor and the specific malignancy type (solid or hematologic) plays a crucial role and needs to be assessed for decision-making process.
Core Tip: Hepatitis B virus reactivation (HBVr) is a clinical challenge among patients receiving chemotherapy for solid tumors or hematologic malignancies. The emergence of novel immunosuppressive and immunomodulatory agents requires expertise in delineating the risk of HBVr associated with each drug class. Classifying the risk of HBVr into low (< 1%), intermediate (1%-10%) and high (> 10%) allows physicians to understand in whom nucleos(t)ide analogues (NAs) are required to avoid potential progression to liver failure and death. To note, according to guidelines, patients without immediate indication for NAs should undergo serial monitoring of blood test for transaminases and HBV profile, including hepatitis B surface antigen status and HBV-DNA titer.
