Peginterferon and Lamivudine for Hepatitis B

To the Editor: Marcellin and colleagues (Sept. 16 issue) 1 report that patients with hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)–negative chronic hepatitis B had higher rates of a sustained response to treatment with peginterferon alfa-2a than with lamivudine. 1 HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis B is usually associated with precore mutations, 2 but it may also develop in patients infected with wild-type strains, with mutations in the basic core promoter. 3 Whether these two groups of patients with HBeAg-negative chronic hepatitis differ in their responses to therapy is not known. The study by Marcellin et al. would have been more informative if hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome . . .