Risk of hepatitis B reactivation in patients receiving anti‐tumor necrosis factor‐α therapy

Objective The purpose of this study was to determine hepatitis B virus (HBV) screening rates in patients receiving anti‐tumor necrosis factor (TNF)‐α therapy and the frequency of HBV reactivation in patients with resolved hepatitis B virus infection (hepatitis B surface antigen [HBsAg] negative, hepatitis B core antibody [Anti‐HBc] positive). Patients and methods Data from 1834 patients who underwent anti‐TNF‐α therapy in the Rheumatology, Gastroenterology and Dermatology Departments of our hospital between 2010 and 2020 were retrospectively analyzed. Within 6 months before the initial anti‐TNF‐α therapy, performing a HBsAg and/or anti‐HBc test is defined as HBV screening. HBV reactivation is defined as the presence of detectable serum HBV DNA or HBsAg seroconversion from negative to positive. Results The overall HBV screening rate was 82.3% before starting anti‐TNF‐α therapy. There was an increasing trend in HBV screening rates during the years analyzed (64% in 2010, 87.4% in 2019) (P