| Theme |
The Forefront of Hepatitis C Treatment |
| Title |
Peginterferon and Ribavirin Therapy in the Era of Triple Therapy for Chronic Hepatitis C |
| Author |
Tetsuo Takehara |
Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine |
| [ Summary ] |
Telaprevir combined with pegylated interferon and ribavirin achieves a higher degree of viral eradication with shorter therapy duration than pegylated interferon and ribavirin dual therapy for patients with hepatitis C genotype 1 infection. The efficacy of telaprevir-based triple therapy is strongly dependent on the response to dual therapy. Previous relapsers who have received dual therapy can achieve sustained viral eradication rates as high as 90 % with triple therapy, whereas only one third of previous nonresponders can do so. It should be noted that the addition of telaprevir increases the incidence of adverse effects such as skin rashs, anemia and renal injury. Re-treatment with 72-week dual therapy leads to sustained viral eradication in a sub-population of previous relapsers who underwent only 48 weeks of therapy. Thus, re-treatment is still a choice for those patients if they are not considered to be able to tolerate to triple therapy. |