• Ilkay Bozkurt, Hatun Ozturk Cerik, Seher Kir, Muge Ustaoglu, Mehmet Turgut, and Saban Esen.
• Department of Infectious Diseases, Ondokuz Mayis University School of Medicine, Samsun, Turkey.
• Int. J. Clin. Pract. 2021 Oct 1; 75 (10): e14685.

AimsHepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is a worldwide distributing viral disease. Hepatitis caused by HBV reactivation may progress to chronic illness and associated with increased risk of hepatic failure and hepatocellular cancer. Rituximab (RTX) is an immunosuppressive agent, is particularly used in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Patients have significant risk for HBV reactivation following chemotherapy with a RTX-containing regimen. This study aimed to determine the HBV screening manner and reactivation rates in patients with haematological neoplasm following chemotherapy including Rituximab.MethodsThis is a single-centered retrospective cohort study. A total of 331 adults with haematological disorders who received chemotherapy regimen including RTX between years of 2006 and 2016 were enrolled. Patients who experienced reactivation were evaluated.ResultsOnly 130 of 331 patients were screened appropriately for HBV infection for 10-year period. We found 18 patients were Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) (+) and 16 (88.8%) of them received antiviral prophylaxis. Among screened patients, 27 were HBsAg (-)/AntiHBc (+) and only 10 (37%) of them received HBV prophylaxis. In total, nine patients experienced reactivation, six were from screened and three were from unscreened group.ConclusionIncomplete screening and inappropriate prophylaxis may result in HBV reactivation in patients under RTX-based chemotherapy and related complications such as death.© 2021 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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