Possible Hepatitis B Cure?

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RESEARCHERS in Singapore are developing a treatment which could eventually lead to a cure for chronic hepatitis B (HBV), the leading cause of liver cancer in Singapore.

Present medication can control the virus but cannot cure the infection.

Their research was highlighted this week in a two-day conference at the Biopolis, which attracted eminent scientists from Singapore and Britain.

Twelve researchers from the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star) and National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed antibodies which can enhance the delivery of drugs to cells in the body infected by the HBV virus.

'Current anti-viral treatment, while effective in curbing the replication of the virus, cannot eliminate the infection entirely,' said Professor Antonio Bertoletti, principal investigator at the Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences at A*Star, who is leading the research effort which started two years ago.

Patients have chronic hepatitis B because they are unable to make antibodies which can recognise and fight off the virus, the researchers concluded. To overcome this, they developed a compound which when injected into a patient, can 'reprogram' the immune system to recognise cells infected by the virus.

The compound uses virus-fighting T-cells from patients who have been cured of the virus. The injected antibodies can carry the drug into the infected cells. The method has been used in cancer therapy.

But a viable treatment remains at least 'two to three years' away as tests are still being conducted on animals.

Associate Professor Lim Seng Gee, Chief of Hepatology at National University Hospital, said the project could be a 'major breakthrough' as the role of the immune system in controlling the HBV virus is 'still not well understood'.

'There is no cure for hepatitis B, so the next stage of medical advancement will be to develop a treatment to remove the virus completely from the liver,' he said.

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Possible Hepatitis B Cure?

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