Factors associated with sustained virological response in 24-week telaprevir-based triple therapy for chronic hepatitis C genotype 1b patients with the IL28B minor genotype

Aim Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) near the interleukin‐28B (IL28B) gene affect the outcome of 24‐week telaprevir‐based triple therapy with telaprevir, pegylated interferon‐α and ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1b patients. We aimed to identify factors associated with treatment outcomes in patients with the unfavorable minor IL28B SNP genotype, who have poor response to combination therapy. Methods Pretreatment and on‐treatment factors associated with sustained virological response (SVR) for 24‐week telaprevir‐based triple therapy were analyzed using multiple logistic regression analysis in 106 HCV genotype 1b patients with the minor IL28B SNP rs8099917 genotype (non‐TT). Results Of the 106 non‐TT patients, 62 (58.5%) achieved SVR. Of the 44 remaining patients, 22 experienced relapse, 13 experienced viral breakthrough and nine were non‐responders. Pretreatment factors such as treatment‐naïve/prior treatment response (P = 0.0041), high fasting serum low‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL‐C) concentration (P = 0.0068) and low serum HCV RNA levels (P = 0.0088) were significantly and independently associated with SVR. On‐treatment factors such as achievement of rapid virological response (RVR) were significantly and independently associated with SVR (P = 0.0001). For both pre‐ and on‐treatment factors, treatment‐naïve/prior treatment response (P = 0.0018), low pretreatment serum fasting LDL‐C (P = 0.0062) and achieving RVR (P = 0.0021) were significantly and independently associated with SVR. Conclusion In HCV genotype 1b patients with the minor IL28B SNP rs8099917 genotype, evaluating prior treatment response and achieving RVR and pretreatment serum fasting LDL‐C concentrations were useful for predicting SVR achievement after 24‐week telaprevir‐based triple therapy.