Epidemiology, treatment and health economics of Hepatitis C in Japan (Review)

We conducted a literature review with publications related to epidemiology, treatment and cost-effectiveness of hepatitis C in the last 10 years. The number of hepatitis C virus carriers in Japan is estimated to be 1.5 to 2 million. Liver or intrahepatic bile duct cancer mortality ranks the fourth among all cancers. The prevalence of hepatitis C increases by age and is characterized mostly by genotype 1b. This population has a high risk of developing liver cancer as hepatitis progresses more rapidly in the elderly. Current standard of care with the addition of telaprevir or simeprevir to interferon and ribavirin significantly improved the sustained viral response rates among naïve and previous interferon non-responders. Review of publications on the cost-effectiveness of screening and interferon therapies showed that both screening and interferon therapies were either cost-effective or cost-saving. The adverse events resulting from interferons present high unmet needs for a more tolerable regimen among hepatitis C virus infected patients in Japan.