Is it possible to predict the development of an entecavir resistance mutation in patients with chronic hepatitis B in clinical practice?

[...]clinical resistance to ETV has been reported in NA-naïve patients, although the incidence was as low as 1.2% at year 3 [5]. Since this study reported a low resistance rate for ETV, excluding the non-response groups at 48 and 96 weeks, the ETV-resistance rate might have been underestimated, as compared with that seen in real-world clinical practice. [...]ETV monotherapy was reported to reduce serum HBV DNA levels by 6–7 log10 during the first year of treatment [13]. [...]the definition of CVR in this study might have been a composite surrogate marker influenced by the baseline HBV DNA level, as well as the efficacy of the ETV treatment.