title: Triple therapy with boceprevir or telaprevir for treatment naïve HCV patients.
abstract: Boceprevir and telaprevir are the first two protease inhibitors available for the treatment of patients infected with HCV genotype 1. In treatment naïve patients, a sustained virologic response (SVR) of 70-80% is observed when either of these protease inhibitors is used with peginterferon and ribavirin A rapid virologic response (RVR) is observed in 56-60% of them allowing a shorter course of 24-28 weeks of therapy with an excellent SVR rate of 90% or even higher. Patients who do not achieve RVR, and those with cirrhosis should be treated for 48 weeks. Both drugs, boceprevir and telaprevir, achieve similar SVR rates but treatment strategies are completely different for each drug. The decision of which protease inhibitor to utilize should weigh several factors including the treatment strategy, duration of therapy, the likelihood of achieving an RVR, adverse event profile, and cost. Besides, the physician's experience with each drug and the wishes of the patient also have to be considered.
authors.affiliation: Liver Unit, Hospital General, Universitario Valle Hebron and CIBERHED del Instituto Carlos III, Paseo Valle Hebron 119, Barcelona 08035, Spain. resteban@vhebron.net
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Esteban
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Buti
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017326:Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic; D004334:Drug Administration Schedule; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000379:methods; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000235:genetics; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000235:genetics / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000627:therapeutic use; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011392:Proline / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D009842:Oligopeptides; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012254:Ribavirin; C486464:telaprevir; C512204:N-(3-amino-1-(cyclobutylmethyl)-2,3-dioxopropyl)-3-(2-((((1,1-dimethylethyl)amino)carbonyl)amino)-3,3-dimethyl-1-oxobutyl)-6,6-dimethyl-3-azabicyclo(3.1.0)hexan-2-carboxamide; D011392:Proline