TABLE 2.

Biochemical and virological response rates in treatment groups

Response and time point	n (%) for groupd
	Monotherapy, PEG-IFN alfa-2b (n = 19)	Combination therapy, PEG-IFN alfa-2b + lamivudine (n = 29)
Biochemicala
End of treatment	10 (53)	19 (66)
End of follow-up	8 (42)	14 (48)
Virological (HBV DNA level)
<4 pg/mlb
End of treatment	12 (63)	23 (79)
End of follow-up	7 (37)	10 (34)
<400 copies/ml,c end of follow-up	5 (26)	7 (24)

^aALT level normalization.

^bDetermined with the Hybrid Capture System (Digene Corporation).

^cDetermined by real-time PCR.

^dP > 0.05 for all parameters.