title: Therapeutic vaccine IC41 as late add-on to standard treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C.
abstract: We examined the effect of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) peptide vaccine IC41 on HCV-specific T-cell responses and virological relapse rates in patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 infection when added to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin standard therapy. 35 patients received 6 vaccinations with IC41 from weeks 28 to 48 of standard antiviral treatment and were followed-up for another 6 months. IC41 vaccination did not prevent HCV-RNA relapse in patients with ongoing interferon standard treatment but HCV-specific T-cell responses were inducible and were associated with lower relapse rates. An increase of HCV-specific T-cell responses occurred in 73% of patients, responses were more frequent and stronger in patients with sustained virologic response than in patients who relapsed. Optimized vaccine responses may enhance sustained virologic response rates obtained with standard treatment of chronic hepatitis C.
authors: Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Endocrinology, Medical University of Hannover, Germany.
authors: Heiner
authors: H
authors: Wedemeyer
authors: Elisabeth
authors: E
authors: Schuller
authors: Verena
authors: V
authors: Schlaphoff
authors: Rudolf E
authors: RE
authors: Stauber
authors: Johannes
authors: J
authors: Wiegand
authors: Ingolf
authors: I
authors: Schiefke
authors: Christa
authors: C
authors: Firbas
authors: Bernd
authors: B
authors: Jilma
authors: Mark
authors: M
authors: Thursz
authors: Stefan
authors: S
authors: Zeuzem
authors: Wolf P
authors: WP
authors: Hofmann
authors: Holger
authors: H
authors: Hinrichsen
authors: Erich
authors: E
authors: Tauber
authors: Michael P
authors: MP
authors: Manns
authors: Christoph S
authors: CS
authors: Klade
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012008:Recurrence; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit / Q000276:immunology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D022223:Vaccines, Subunit; D014761:Viral Hepatitis Vaccines; D012254:Ribavirin; D007372:Interferons