title: Treatment extension may benefit female genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C patients with complete early virological response to peginterferon-alpha-2b and ribavirin combination therapy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Little is known about the appropriate use of peginterferon-α-2b (PEG IFN-α-2b) or ribavirin (RBV) in genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C (CH-C) patients with complete early virological response (cEVR). Female patients, especially the older, are known to experience inferior treatment outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 150 CH-C patients with cEVR treated for 48 weeks (n = 104) or 52-64 weeks (n = 46) with PEG IFN-α-2b and RBV combination therapy were retrospectively analyzed to evaluate the benefits of extended treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the 48-week group, patients without a sustained virological response (SVR) were more often female (P = 0.004) and had received a significantly lower total RBV dose (P = 0.003) than those with SVR. The SVR rate in these female patients was similar to males with hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA negativity at treatment week 8 (P = 0.413); however, it was lower than that in males with HCV RNA negativity at treatment week 12 (P = 0.005). In the 52-64-week group, although the total RBV dose (mg/kg) after treatment week 48 was less in females than in males (P = 0.027), the SVR rate in females was equivalent to that in males (P = 0.604).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Genotype 1 CH-C patients treated with PEG IFN-α-2b and RBV combination therapy without SVR were more often female and had received a lower total RBV dose than males. The smaller SVR rate in female patients with cEVR compared to males may be overcome by extending treatment even if the RBV dose is lowered due to anemia.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Graduate School of Medical Science             Department of Internal Medicine, Aiseikai Yamashina Hospital, Kyoto             Hepatology Center, Saiseikai Suita Hospital             Department of Gastroenterology, Matsushita Memorial Hospital, Osaka, Japan.
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nishimura
authors.forename: Kanji
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authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Hiroaki
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authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: Toshihisa
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authors.lastname: Niimi
authors.forename: Chihiro
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authors.lastname: Yokomizo
authors.forename: Hideki
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authors.lastname: Fujii
authors.forename: Masahito
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Minami
authors.forename: Masafumi
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authors.lastname: Sakamoto
authors.forename: Naoki
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authors.lastname: Ohnish
authors.forename: Yasuyuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagao
authors.forename: Mika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Okita
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Umemura
authors.forename: Toshihide
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shima
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okanoue
authors.forename: Yoshito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Itoh