Is Anti-HBs a Useful, Economic and Neglected Tool in the Hands of Hepatologist? A meta-analysis of Observational Studies of HBv past Infection Reactivation in Patients with Lymphoma

Introduction

Reactivation of HBV may occur in individuals with past HBV Infection (serological recovery from infection: HbsAg negative, antiHBc positive and/or antiHBs positive). This reactivation (appearance of HbsAg or HBV DNA) is a well- recognized complication following systemic chemotherapy for hematological malignancies. In HBsAg-positive patients who are candidates for chemotherapy or treatment with biologic agents, preemptive treatment with an antiviral agent has become a standard of care, effectively preventing HBV reactivation. Conversely in patients with past HBV Infection the preemptive therapy is not universally accepted, so neither the screening for past HBV infection is routinely performed. The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recommends screening using the HBsAg test, and in some cases the anti-HBc test, but does not endorse screening with anti-HBs [1]. The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) recommends HBsAg and anti-HBc testing in patients who are at high risk of HBV infection prior to initiation of chemotherapy or immunosuppressive therapy. Whereas HBV reactivation in this population is considered as "infrequent", perhaps does not recommend routine prophylaxis for these individuals: These patients should be monitored and antiviral therapy initiated when serum HBV DNA becomes detectable [2]. The European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) recommends that HBsAg-negative, anti-HBc positive patients with undetectable serum HBV DNA, regardless of anti-HBs status, who receive chemotherapy and/or immunosuppressant, should be followed carefully by means of ALT and HBV DNA testing and treated with NA therapy upon confirmation of HBV reactivation before ALT elevation [3]. The Italian association for the Study of the Liver (AISF) recommends two different strategies: for mild haematological therapies HBsAg monitoring is advised, whereas in subjects treated with intense immunosuppressant prophylaxis is indicated [4]. However, these recommendations are based on little evidence. In a recent review on management of patients with hepatitis B who require immunosuppressive therapy the authors recommend a prophylactic antiviral therapy in HBsAg negative/anti HBc positive patients at moderate/higt risk of reactivation regarde less the anti HBs status [5]. So we performed a systematic review with the aim to research, at first, the relationship between HBV reactivation in HBsAg negative patients, with various neo plastic diseases of the lymphoid tissue undergoing chemotherapy, with anti-HBc positive OR anti-HBc negative status; and as second outcome the proportion of HBV reactivation in HBsAg negative/anti HBc positive patients with HBsAb positive OR HBsAb negative status.

Results

1226 papers were screened and (Figure 1) shows the flow chart. We further scrutinized the reference citations from the retrieved articles in order to avoid any missing data derived from any additional eligible studies that reported the prevalence of HBV reactivation in patients with various neo plastic diseases of the lymphoid tissue who recovered from HBV infection.

On the basis of publication type 350 papers were excluded as case report or case series, 303 papers were excluded as Letter, comment, editorial or reviews. After Fiore M. Is Anti-HBs a Useful, Economic and Neglected Tool in the Hands of Hepatologist? A meta-analysis of Observational Studies of HBv Past Infection Reactivation in Patients with Lymphoma. Gastroenterol Hepatol Int J 2016, 1(2): 000108.

abstract reading another 200 paper were excluded because In vitro studies, conference abstract or no relevant outcome. After a full text review of 347 studies, Copyright© Fiore M.

230 were excluded because the argument was the HBV reactivation in HBsAg positive patients. Of the 117 titles remained, 11 were eligible for the final analysis but 1 article was retracted, so eleven articles are included in the final analysis [6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16] (Figure 1). Table 2 summarizes study characteristics. Results on the difference in risk of reactivation of past HBV infection in antiHBc positive and antiHBc negative, show a clear and significant increase of 4% (95%CI: 1%−6%, p- value=0.002) in antiHBc positive patients as compared to antiHBc negative patients (Figure 2). The asymmetry of funnel plot in Figure 3 suggests the presence of a publication bias. According to trim & fill analysis, the pooled RD would be reduced to 2.3% (p-value=0.09) As to the secondary endpoint, a statistically significant RD between anti-HBs positive and anti-HBs negative with pooled estimate = -8% (95%CI -12% − - 4%, p- value<0.001) (Figure 4) was found, confirmed by trim & fill method and visual inspection of funnel plot (Figure 5).

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and anti-HBc – patients, comparing risk difference (RD) versus the standard error of RD.

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Fiore M. Is Anti-HBs a Useful, Economic and Neglected Tool in the Hands of Hepatologist? A meta-analysis of Observational Studies of HBv Past Infection Reactivation in Patients with Lymphoma. Gastroenterol Hepatol Int J 2016, 1(2): 000108.

Copyright© Fiore M.

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Figure 5: Funnel plot of studies, including anti- HBs + and anti-HBs– patients, comparing Risk Difference (RD) versus the standard error of RD. Discussion This review, carried out on the viable literature, suggests that the presence of antiHBs is a protective factor associated to the risk of HBV reactivation in HBsAg negative patients with lymphoma who undergo immunosuppressant. This seems supported by findings of a recent RCT on the use of prophylaxis [18], where antiHBs negative patients apparently benefit more of the intervention as compared to antiHBs positives (21% vs 13% of reactivations). This opens the question of whether this is the target group. Limitations of our analysis should be noted. First, there is no unambiguous definition of reactivation: we have adopted the definition provided by the authors. Secondly Lastly, only the data of studies published in English language were analyzed so this is another potential bias introduced. So given these limitation, what we have found in this meta-analysis should be interpreted with caution.

Conclusion

In conclusion, based on scientific literature, antiHBs status in HBsAg negative/anti HBc positive patients undergoing chemotherapy may reduce the risk for HBV reactivation and HBV-associated morbidity and mortality. Thus, antiHBs status should be included in a management algorithm for patients with past HBV infection prior to starting immunosuppressive therapy (Table 3).

Fiore M. Is Anti-HBs a Useful, Economic and Neglected Tool in the Hands of Hepatologist? A meta-analysis of Observational Studies of HBv Past Infection Reactivation in Patients with Lymphoma. Gastroenterol Hepatol Int J 2016, 1(2): 000108.

Acknowledgement

The author thanks Dr. Takeshi Matsui for his personal data.