Hepatitis B affects large numbers worldwide; WHO estimates one of three people has been infected by acute hepatitis B, and over 2 million people in the United States live with chronic disease. The risk of chronic infection is highest in infants, with a 90 percent likelihood for babies. Untreated chronic hepatitis B leads to liver cancer about 25 percent of the time. Vaccines prevent infection and oral antivirals suppress viral replication, halving cancer risk, but no cure exists. Antivirals require lifelong use and can cause side effects, resistance, and rare kidney or liver complications. A 300-patient, 80-site, 18-country trial called B-United is testing potential cures; a San Francisco site led by Maurizio Bonacini treated the first patient.
The World Health Organization estimates that one of three people worldwide has been infected by acute hepatitis B. The likelihood of developing chronic hepatitis B is higher for the young - the risk is 90 percent for babies with the bloodborne disease. When untreated, the virus progresses into liver cancer 25% of the time, killing one of four. Although hepatitis B is both preventable with vaccines and treatable with oral medication, the virus continues to spread 60 years after its discovery.
Hoping to change this, Bonacini joined B-United, a clinical trial with 300 chronic hepatitis B patients at 80 sites across 18 countries, sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, a biopharma company headquartered in the U.K. Bonacini leads one of two investigation locations in California - the other is in San Jose, led by Dr. Huy A. Nguyen at San Jose Gastroenterology. Bonacini's San Francisco site was first to treat a patient with a potential cure for chronic hepatitis B.
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