Evaluating the risk of hepatitis B reactivation in patients with haematological malignancies: is the serum hepatitis B virus profile reliable?

Background/Aim: Patients with an occult hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection undergoing deep immunosuppression are potentially at risk of HBV reactivation. In order to assess whether a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for HBV DNA in serum could be used to predict the reactivation of an occult HBV infection, we performed a retrospective study in a cohort of Sicilian patients with oncohaematological diseases. Methods: We studied by a highly sensitive ad hoc nested PCR for serum HBV DNA 75 HBsAg-negative oncohaematological patients requiring chemotherapy. Results: Thirty-three patients (44%) were HBV seronegative (anti-HBc and anti-HBs negative) and 42 patients (56%) were HBV seropositive (a…