title: Sustained Virologic Response at 24 Weeks after the End of Treatment Is a Better Predictor for Treatment Outcome in Real-World HCV-Infected Patients Treated by HCV NS3/4A Protease Inhibitors with Peginterferon plus Ribavirin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Direct-acting antiviral agents against HCV with or without peginterferon plus ribavirin result in higher eradication rates of HCV and shorter treatment duration. We examined which is better for predicting persistent virologic response, the assessment of serum HCV RNA at 12 or 24 weeks after the end of treatment for predicting sustained virologic response (SVR12 or SVR24, respectively) in patients treated by HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitors with peginterferon plus ribavirin.
  
  
  METHODS
  In all, 149 Japanese patients infected with HCV genotype 1b treated by peginterferon plus ribavirin with telaprevir or simeprevir were retrospectively analyzed: 59 and 90 patients were treated with telaprevir- and simeprevir-including regimens, respectively. HCV RNA was measured by TaqMan HCV Test, version 2.0, real-time PCR assay. SVR12 or SVR24, respectively, was defined as HCV RNA negativity at 12 or 24 weeks after ending treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total SVR rates were 78.0% and 66.7% in the telaprevir and simeprevir groups, respectively. In the telaprevir group, all 46 patients with SVR12 finally achieved SVR24. In the simeprevir group, 60 (93.8%) of the total 64 patients with SVR12 achieved SVR24, with the other 4 patients all being previous-treatment relapsers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SVR12 was suitable for predicting persistent virologic response in almost all cases. In simeprevir-including regimens, SVR12 could not always predict persistent virologic response. Clinicians should use SVR24 for predicting treatment outcome in the use of HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitors with peginterferon plus ribavirin for any group of real-world patients chronically infected with HCV.
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Tatsuo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanda
authors.affiliation: 2. Department of Molecular Virology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Shingo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nakamoto
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Reina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Shin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yasui
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Yuki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Haga
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Sadahisa
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ogasawara
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Akinobu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tawada
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.affiliation: 3. Kikkoman General Hospital, Noda, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Shigeru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mikami
authors.affiliation: 4. Safety and Health Organization, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: Fumio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Imazeki
authors.affiliation: 1. Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Chiba University Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan;
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yokosuka
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D005838:Genotype; D016174:Hepacivirus / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D019698:Hepatitis C, Chronic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000008:administration & dosage; D011480:Protease Inhibitors / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000187:drug effects; D012254:Ribavirin / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000069616:Simeprevir / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000072230:Sustained Virologic Response; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D019562:Viral Load / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D009842:Oligopeptides; D011480:Protease Inhibitors; D012367:RNA, Viral; D012254:Ribavirin; C486464:telaprevir; D000069616:Simeprevir
keywords: HCV RNA; direct-acting antivirals; hepatitis C; sustained virologic response