Joe Sasadeusz, Andrew Grigg, Peter D Hughes, Seng Lee Lim, Michaela Lucas, Geoff McColl, Sue Anne McLachlan, Marion G Peters, Nicholas Shackel, Monica Slavin, Vijaya Sundararajan, Alexander Thompson, Joseph Doyle, James Rickard, Peter De Cruz, Robert G Gish, Kumar Visvanathan
Patients with malignancies require chemotherapy and other immunosuppressive therapies for treatment. Because of this immunosuppression, in patients who have ever been exposed to hepatitis B it is possible for reactivation to occur. This reactivation can be fatal. Reactivation is particularly likely in patients who receive B cell-active agents such as rituximab. The occurrence of reactivation flares may also delay further chemotherapy, which can negatively affect the outcome of the underlying malignancy. Accordingly, it is important to screen patients for markers of hepatitis B and institute antiviral prophylaxis to prevent reactivation...
August 2019: Clinics in Liver Disease