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Current Hepatology Reports
Published in: Current Hepatology Reports 4/2016

Open Access 01-12-2016 | Hepatitis B (JK Lim, Section Editor)

Future Therapy for Hepatitis B Virus: Role of Immunomodulators

Authors: Edward A. Pham, Ryan B. Perumpail, Benjamin J. Fram, Jeffrey S. Glenn, Aijaz Ahmed, Robert G. Gish

Published in: Current Hepatology Reports | Issue 4/2016

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Abstract

Although currently available therapies for chronic hepatitis B virus infection can suppress viremia and provide long-term benefits for patients, they do not lead to a functional cure for most patients. Advances in our understanding of the virus-host interaction and the recent remarkable success of immunotherapy in cancer offer new and promising strategies for developing immune modulators that may become important components of a total therapeutic approach to hepatitis B, some of which are now in clinical development. Among the immunomodulatory agents currently being investigated to combat chronic HBV are toll-like receptor agonists, immune checkpoint inhibitors, therapeutic vaccines, and engineered T cells. The efficacy of some immune modulatory therapies is compromised by high viral antigen levels. Cutting edge strategies, including RNA interference and CRISPR/Cas9, are now being studied that may ultimately be shown to have the capacity to lower viral antigen levels sufficiently to substantially increase the efficacy of these agents. The current advances in therapies for chronic hepatitis B are leading us toward the possibility of a functional cure.
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Metadata
Title
Future Therapy for Hepatitis B Virus: Role of Immunomodulators
Authors
Edward A. Pham
Ryan B. Perumpail
Benjamin J. Fram
Jeffrey S. Glenn
Aijaz Ahmed
Robert G. Gish
Publication date
01-12-2016
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Current Hepatology Reports / Issue 4/2016
Electronic ISSN: 2195-9595
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11901-016-0315-9

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