Recent Study Shows Benefits for Extending Hepatitis C Treatment

A recent study found that extending the period of treatment for patients with hepatitis C and cirhossis taking sofosbuvir and ribavirin increases their chances of being cured.

Researchers sought to test whether sustained virologic response 12 (SVF12), recorded at 90% in various studies, was attainable in real-life for patients with severe liver disease by extending the treatment duration from 12 to 16 and 20 weeks. They determined that extending treatment did increase the number of participants with hepatitis C who were cured.
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Researchers in Italy studied 291 participants with bridging fibrosis or cirrhosis between the ages of 18 and 87, 163 of which had never undergone treatment. There were 168 participants with cirrhosis; 149 of them had a Child-Pugh score of A and 19 had Child-Pugh score of B.

The overall findings of the study showed that SVR12 was 95.53% for all participants. For participants without cirrhosis, 99.15% were cured at 12 weeks. In patients with cirrhosis, 94.51% were cured at 16 weeks and 94.94% at 20 weeks.

The side effects of extending the treatment included mild anemia in 12.4%, moderate anemia in 3.4%, and severe anemia in 2.4% of participants. Cases of anemia were more frequent for the extended duration but did not deter participants from continuing treatment.

Researchers concluded that 95% of patients can be cured if treatment is extended, even for those with severe cirrhosis.

—Melissa Weiss

Reference:

Mangia A, Susser S, Piazzolla V, et al. Sofosbuvir and Ribavirin for genotype 2 HCV infected patients with cirrhosis: a real life experience [published online December 10, 2016]. Journal of Hepatology. doi:dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2016.12.002.