What is your threshold for offering nucleos(t)ide analogue cessation in an HBeAg-negative, non- cirrhotic patient with low EOT qHBsAg (e.g., ~80 IU/mL), and which clinical factors would make you advise against stopping even with reliable follow-up?

I am not a big advocate of stopping nucs under most circumstances except for sAg loss. However, if the patient is really insistent and the sAg level is that low it might be OK, although many experts think <10 would be better. You have to inform the patient of a risk of a flare when stopping, to be sure. What would persuade me not to stop would be the presence of cirrhosis, of course, and a family history of HCC or the presence of a basal core promoter mutation in the virus. There is also the impending approval of Bepe on October 26, which would almost guarantee sAg clearance with a low sAg level like this one.