High effectiveness of peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin therapy in Korean patients with chronic hepatitis C in clinical practice.
- Author:
Nae Yun HEO
1
;
Young Suk LIM
;
Han Chu LEE
;
Yung Sang LEE
;
Kang Mo KIM
;
Kwan Soo BYUN
;
Kwang Hyub HAN
;
Kwan Sik LEE
;
Seung Woon PAIK
;
Seung Kew YOON
;
Dong Jin SUH
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article ; Controlled Clinical Trial ; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
- Keywords: Medication adherence; Hepatitis C; Peginterferon alfa-2a; Ribavirin
- MeSH: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Antiviral Agents/*therapeutic use; Asian Continental Ancestry Group; Cohort Studies; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Genotype; Hepacivirus/genetics; Hepatitis C, Chronic/*drug therapy; Humans; Interferon-alpha/*therapeutic use; Male; Middle Aged; Odds Ratio; Polyethylene Glycols/*therapeutic use; Predictive Value of Tests; RNA, Viral/genetics; Recombinant Proteins/therapeutic use; Republic of Korea; Ribavirin/*therapeutic use; Treatment Outcome; Young Adult
- From:Clinical and Molecular Hepatology 2013;19(1):60-69
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND/AIMS: Identifying the impact of a patient's ethnicity on treatment responses in clinical practice may assist in providing individualized treatment regimens for chronic hepatitis C (CHC). The effectiveness of standard peginterferon plus ribavirin therapy and the need for triple combination therapy with protease inhibitors in Koreans remain matters of debate. These issues were investigated in the present study. METHODS: The clinical data of 272 treatment-naive Korean CHC patients who were treated in a community-based clinical trial (Clinical Trial group; n=51) and in clinical practice (Cohort group; n=221), were analyzed and compared. All were treated with standard protocols of peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin therapy. RESULTS: For patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1, the sustained virological response (SVR) rates in the Clinical Trial and Cohort groups were 81% (21/26) and 55% (58/106), respectively, by intention-to-treat (ITT) analysis (P=0.02), and 100% (13/13) and 80% (32/40), respectively, in treatment-adherent patients (P=0.18). For patients with HCV genotype 2, the SVR rates in these two groups were 96% (24/25) and 88% (101/115), respectively, by ITT analysis (P=0.31). Adherence and treatment duration were independent predictors of SVR for genotypes 1 and 2, respectively (P<0.01 for each). Korean patients with CHC achieved high SVR rates with peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin in both the clinical trial and clinical practice settings. CONCLUSIONS: Measures to raise adherence to standard therapy in clinical practice may improve the SVR rates in these patients as effectively as adding protease inhibitors, thus obviating the need for the latter.
