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Effective treatment for chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections should not only bring about long-term viral suppression but also minimize the development of drug resistance. Results from recent studies (Journal Watch Gastroenterology Jul 10 2006) have demonstrated that entecavir is superior to lamivudine in terms of both efficacy and lower rates of resistance during 52 weeks of treatment. Now, researchers have compared extended treatment with the two agents in a double-blind, double-dummy, randomized, controlled trial.
A total of 709 patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive HBV infections were recruited from 137 treatment centers worldwide. They were assigned to entecavir (0.5 mg daily) and lamivudine (100 mg daily) treatment …