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Current therapy for hepatitis C.

Mireen Friedrich-Rust·Stefan Zeuzem·Christoph Sarrazin
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Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Pegylated interferon alfa in combination with ribavirin has been established as standard therapy for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with sustained virologic response rates of 54-63%. The duration of therapy depends on the HCV genotype with currently 48 weeks for genotype 1 and 24 weeks for genotypes 2 and 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The probability of sustained virologic response is very low (<1-2%) in genotype-1-infected patients without a 2-log decline of HCV RNA concentration after 12 weeks of therapy, and treatment can therefore be discontinued early. CONCLUSION: Efficient treatment of the multiple side-effects of interferon-based antiviral therapy is essential in order to improve compliance, prevent dose reduction or early discontinuation and therefore enhance the probability of sustained response. Future developments of interferon-based therapy aim at the individualisation of the duration of therapy according to the kinetics of viral reduction. Furthermore, direct antiviral drugs, which are currently under investigation in phase I/II clinical trials, will fundamentally expand the treatment options of HCV infection in the next few years.

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AlgorithmsGenotypeHepacivirusHepatitis CHumansInterferon Type IRecurrenceRibavirinJournal ArticleReview

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Mireen Friedrich-Rust, Stefan Zeuzem, Christoph Sarrazin. 2005-09-21. Current therapy for hepatitis C.. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00384-005-0038-9

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