Pegylated interferon and ribavirin in re-treatment of responder-relapser HCV patients.
Dig Liver Dis
; 39(1): 47-51, 2007 Jan.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-17079197
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The re-treatment of patients who relapse after a course of standard interferon and ribavirin with pegylated interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin is an open issue.AIMS:
To evaluate efficacy and safety of treatment with pegylated interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin and the role of early HCV-RNA assessment as a predictor of sustained response. PATIENTS Between May 2001 and December 2002, 242 consecutive patients with chronic hepatitis C were enrolled in an open, regional, multicentre study. Seventy-eight of them were responder-relapsers to a previous course of combination therapy.METHODS:
Patients were treated with pegylated interferon alfa-2b (1 microg/kg/week) plus ribavirin (800-1200 mg daily). Qualitative HCV-RNA was performed at week 2. Genotypes 1-4 were treated for 48 weeks, while genotypes 2 and 3 were treated for 24 weeks.RESULTS:
We obtained an overall sustained virological response rate of 41.0% (78.6% for patients with genotypes 2-3).CONCLUSION:
This treatment schedule prove to be safe and effective in relapsers with genotype non-1 while genotype 1-4 patients had a low rate of sustained virological response. Qualitative virological assessment after 2 weeks may identify patients who are more likely to reach sustained virological response, but it is not a valid tool for a stopping rule approach.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Antivirais
/
Ribavirina
/
Interferon-alfa
/
Hepatite C Crônica
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2007
Tipo de documento:
Article