Blood & Cancer

In this episode, we discuss updated guidelines on the screening and management of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in patients about to start anticancer therapy. The guidelines come from an American Society of Clinical Oncology Provisional Clinical Opinion (PCO) published earlier this year. Jessica P. Hwang, MD, of MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Andrew Artz, MD, of City of Hope, are cochairs of the ASCO PCO. They joined host David H. Henry, MD, to discuss the guidelines. Epidemiology of HBV Data suggest chronic HBV infection affects 257 million people globally. In the United States, chronic HBV infection has a prevalence of less than 1%, but the prevalence of past HBV can be 5%-40% in high-risk populations. High-risk populations include people born in endemic areas (i.e., Africa, Asia, and South America), those with injection drug use, men who have sex with men, and people with household contacts who have HBV. In patients with cancer, the prevalence of past HBV infection is 5%-10%, with a 0.5% prevalence of chronic H