Steady Decline of HBV DNA Load under NAs in Lymphoma Patients and a Higher Level of qAnti-HBc Predict HBV Reactivation

Background: Patients with lymphoma and chronic hepatitis B virus infection need to be treated with both chemotherapy and nucleotide analogue (NA) therapy. However, dynamic changes in HBV DNA loads with increasing chemotherapy cycles are lacking. It is unknown whether HBV replication markers, namely, the quantitative hepatitis B core antibody (qAnti-HBc), HBV RNA, and the hepatitis B virus core-related antigen (HBcrAg), are also markers for predicting HBV reactivation (HBVr). Methods: From 29 June 2010 to 6 December 2021, the data of patients with single-site diffuse large B-cell lymphoma and HBV infection (HBsAg+ and HBsAg−/anti-HBc+) were collected from a hospital medical record system, retrospectively. Serum HBV DNA loads (using real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR tests), qAnti-HBc levels (using a newly developed chemiluminescent particle immunoassay), HBV RNA levels (using the simultaneous amplification testing method based on real-time fluorescence detection), and HBcrAg levels (using a Lumipulse G HBcrAg assay) were tested, and factors related to HBVr were analyzed. Results: Under NAs, the HBV DNA loads of 69 HBsAg+ lymphoma patients declined from 3.15 (2.13–4.73) lg IU/mL to 1.00 (1.00–1.75) lg IU/mL, and further declined to 1.00 (1.00–1.04) lg IU/mL at the end of a 24-month follow-up. The qAnti-HBc levels decreased gradually during chemotherapy in HBsAg+ lymphoma patients (F = 7.090, p = 0.009). The HBV RNA and HBcrAg levels remained stable. A multivariate analysis revealed that higher qAnti-HBc levels (1.97 ± 1.20 vs. 1.12 ± 0.84 lg IU/mL, OR = 6.369, [95% CI: 1.523–26.641], p = 0.011) and higher HBV RNA levels (1.00 ± 1.13 vs. 0.37 ± 0.80 lg copies/mL, OR = 3.299, [95% CI: 1.229–8.854], p = 0.018) were related to HBVr in HBsAg−/anti-HBc+ lymphoma patients. Conclusions: HBV DNA loads declined under NAs during chemotherapy in lymphoma patients. In HBsAg−/anti-HBc+ lymphoma patients, a higher level of baseline serum qAnti-HBc and HBV RNA levels can predict the likelihood of HBVr during chemotherapy.