Therapeutic vaccination for treatment of chronic hepatitis B.

ABSTRACT: Chronic hepatitis B infection remains a serious global health threat, contributing to a large number of deaths through liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Current treatment does not eradicate disease, and therefore new treatments are urgently needed. In acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) a strong immune response is necessary to clear the virus, but in chronic infection the immune response is weakened and dysfunctional. Therapeutic vaccination describes the process of inoculating individuals with a non-infective form of viral antigen with the aim of inducing or boosting existing HBV-specific immune responses, resulting in sustained control of HBV infection. In this review we outline the rationale for therapeutic vaccination in chronic HBV infection, discuss previous and ongoing trials

SUBMITTER: Cargill T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8274149 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature