We describe a 77-year-old woman with chronic hepatitis B who became resistant to lamivudine.She was started on adefovir(10 mg daily)while still continuing lamivudine therapy.Four mo later her liver function improved and serum Hepatitis B virus(HBV)-DNA level became undetectable.Three years after the start of additional adefovir treatment,hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC)was detected and the patient underwent a successful hepa-tectomy.Our findings suggest tha-t the addition of adefovir to ongoing lamivudine therapy cannot completely suppress hepatocarcinogenesis,but is useful for improving liver function in patients with lamivudine-resistant HBV-related cirrhosis,allowing HCC surgery. We describe a 77-year-old woman with chronic hepatitis B who became resistant to lamivudine. He was started on adefovir (10 mg daily) while still continuing lamivudine therapy. Friend mo later her liver function improved and serum Hepatitis B virus (HBV) -DNA level became undetectable.Three years after the start of additional adefovir treatment, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was detected and the patient underwent a successful hepa-tectomy. Our findings suggest tha-t the addition of adefovir to ongoing lamivudine therapy can not just suppress hepatocarcinogenesis, but is useful for improving liver function in patients with lamivudine-resistant HBV-related cirrhosis, allowing HCC surgery.