REPOST: INFO: Consensus Interferon in Hepatitis C Is an Option for Those Non-Responsive to Peginterferon/Ribavrin: Presented at AASLD

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November 7, 2007

Consensus Interferon in Hepatitis C Is an Option for

Those Non-Responsive to Peginterferon/Ribavrin: Presented at AASLD

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By Bishop

BOSTON, MA -- November 7, 2007 -- In a recent

retrospective study of veterans, 12% of hepatitis C virus (HCV) subjects

remained HCV ribonucleic acid (RNA) undetectable at least 3 months

post-treatment with consensus interferon (Infergen) following prior treatment

with peginterferon and ribavirin, researchers reported here at the 58th Annual

Scientific Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease

(AASLD).

Treatment-naïve veterans fared better, with 24%

remaining HCV RNA undetectable at least 3 months post-treatment with consensus

interferon, noted lead author Helen S. Yee, PharmD, Ambulatory Care Clinical Pharmacist,

Pharmacy Service, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, San

Francisco, California, United States.

These data offer an alternative for patients who are

nonresponders/relapsers to peginterferon plus ribavirin. At least 50% of

chronic HCV patients who receive standard therapy are nonresponders to

treatment, added Dr. Yee.

Seven-hundred seventy-six of the hepatitis C patients

who were reviewed for this study had been prescribed consensus interferon with

ribavirin (99.7%) or without ribavirin in the VA health care system from

October 2003 to October 2006. Treatment duration varied significantly between

prescribers, and over 57% of the patients in this study discontinued consensus

interferon within less than 3 months of starting treatment. The mean treatment

duration averaged 3.1 months.

Data were reviewed for documentation of the following:

HCV antiviral treatment history and response; time between HCV antiviral

treatments; consensus interferon dose, frequency, and duration; and HCV RNA

results. Demographic data were also included. The mean age of patients (95.4%

of whom were male) was 55.4 ± 5.57 years. The average prior peginterferon

treatment duration (n = 646) was 8.9 months.

" Factors associated with outcomes and consensus

interferon [with or without ribavirin] -- such as dosing, length of treatment,

and other practice variations -- need to be further assessed, " concluded

Dr. Yee.

This trial was funded in part by the VA National

HIV/Hepatitis C Program and a grant from Valeant Pharmaceuticals, makers of

Infergen.

[Presentation title: Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Treatment

Outcomes with Consensus Interferon with or without Ribavirin in Peginterferon/Ribavirin

Non-responders/Relapsers: Results from National Clinical Practice

Settings. Abstract 355]

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/news/newsRev/2007/NewsRev-230.html#_Consensus_Interferon_in