Extended treatment duration for treatment naïve chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 late viral responders: a meta-analysis comparing 48 weeks vs 72 weeks of pegylated interferon and ribavirin.
Patients with genotype I chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection with late virological response to therapy have low sustained viral response (SVR) with standard 48 weeks of therapy and may benefit from extended therapy. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of five studies to compare the outcome of 48 weeks vs 72 weeks treatment in treatment naïve chronic hepatitis C genotype I patients with late virological response. The end of treatment response with extended 72 weeks of treatment compared to standard 48 weeks of treatment was similar 48% and 56%, respectively, with pooled odds ratio (OR) (0.85; 95% CI 0.52-1.37). However, the SVR rates were higher with 72 weeks of treatment compared to 48 weeks treatment 32%vs 25% with pooled OR of 1.67 in favour of extended duration therapy (95% CI 1.16-2.40). This was because of lower relapse rates with extended duration therapy (35%vs 55%) with OR of 0.39 in favour of 72 weeks therapy (95% CI 0.25-0.61). There was no heterogeneity. No publication bias was noted as assessed by Egger's test. Extending the treatment duration from 48 to 72 weeks in genotype 1 infected patients with late virological response improves SVR. Thus, therapy extension in genotype 1 late viral responders (LVR) may be a consideration to improve treatment response; however, the proportion of patients with LVR that might benefit from 72-week therapy appears to be small.
Department of Internal Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
M
M
Parikh
A
A
Singh
G
G
Sood
D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000379:methods; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D000998:Antiviral Agents; D012254:Ribavirin; D007372:Interferons