Potent suppression of hepatitis B virus and hepatocellular carcinoma: how long is good enough?

Approximately one third of the world’s population has serological evidence of past or present infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV). The natural history of chronic HBV infection, ranges from an inactive carrier state to progressive chronic hepatitis B (CHB), which may evolve to cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (1,2).