{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T22:39:13Z","timestamp":1773268753192,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1773187200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>While functional cure (FC) is the elusive endpoint of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) therapy, a clear consensus on its practical expectations is lacking. To inform the development of new treatments and clinical guidelines, we conducted a nationwide survey to quantify Chinese physicians' perceptions of FC and their benchmarks for successful novel therapies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>In this cross-sectional study, we administered a detailed online questionnaire to 151 attending physicians and above with extensive experience treating CHB. A quota sampling method was employed to ensure a geographically balanced cohort representative of practice patterns across China.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 151 physicians were surveyed, with the vast majority (70.8%) endorsing functional cure (FC) as the ultimate treatment goal. The most valued clinical benefit of FC was the reduction in liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (mean score 9.6\/10). Combination therapy containing Peg-IFN\u03b1 was favored by 76.1% of respondents as the preferred strategy to achieve FC. Post-treatment, physicians strongly recommended a minimum of one year of follow-up and adjunct consolidation therapy to mitigate relapse risk. Critically, a consensus emerged on key benchmarks for novel therapies: a minimal acceptable FC rate of 30% and a strong preference for regimens based on Nucleos(t)ide Analogs (NAs) and\/or Peg-IFN\u03b1.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Our findings translate the collective expertise of Chinese physicians into actionable benchmarks for HBV functional cure. The consensus on a minimal 30% cure rate and a preference for combination therapy provide crucial guidance for clinical trial design and the development of novel antiviral strategies.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1707447","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T06:51:50Z","timestamp":1773211910000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Defining success in functional cure for chronic hepatitis B: a nationwide survey of physician benchmarks to guide clinical practice and trial design"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"14","author":[{"given":"Shan","family":"Ren","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Liver Disease Center, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yisi","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Liver Disease Center, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xiao","family":"Lin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Liver Disease Center, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Junefeng","family":"Lu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Liver Disease Center, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Lina","family":"Ma","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Liver Disease Center, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sujun","family":"Zheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Liver Disease Center, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Xinyue","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"First Department of Liver Disease Center, Beijing Youan Hospital, Capital Medical University","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","article-title":"Geneva: World Health Organization","year":"2016"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2099","DOI":"10.1002\/hep.27406","article-title":"The global burden of liver disease: the major impact of 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The role of quantitative HBsAg in predicting functional cure in chronic hepatitis B","volume":"17","author":"Cornberg","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol."},{"key":"B20","first-page":"932","article-title":"et al. HCV guidance: Recommendations for testing, managing, and treating hepatitis C","volume":"65","author":"Lok","year":"2017","journal-title":"Hepatology."},{"key":"B21","first-page":"1024","article-title":"et al. Physician perceptions and attitudes towards hepatitis B functional cure: A European survey","volume":"41","author":"Lim","year":"2021","journal-title":"Liver Int."},{"key":"B22","first-page":"1101","article-title":"et al. Combination siRNA and pegIFN-\u03b1 therapy for chronic hepatitis B: the piranga study","volume":"390","author":"Hou","year":"2024","journal-title":"N Engl J Med."},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"ofaa208","DOI":"10.1093\/ofid\/ofaa208","article-title":"Short-term peginterferon-induced high functional cure rate in inactive chronic hepatitis B virus carriers with low surface antigen levels","volume":"7","author":"Zeng","year":"2020","journal-title":"Open Forum Infect Dis."},{"key":"B24","first-page":"1327","article-title":"et al. Management of chronic hepatitis B in Asia: A survey of current practice","volume":"35","author":"Wong","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Gastroenterol Hepatol."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Public Health"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1707447\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]],"date-time":"2026-03-11T06:51:53Z","timestamp":1773211913000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1707447\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]]},"references-count":24,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1707447"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpubh.2026.1707447","relation":{},"ISSN":["2296-2565"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2296-2565","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,11]]},"article-number":"1707447"}}