Prolonged Therapy of Advanced Chronic Hepatitis C with Low-Dose Peginterferon

Patients with chronic hepatitis C who did not have a sustained viral response to peginterferon and ribavirin were randomly assigned to receive low-dose peginterferon or no treatment for 3.5 years. The clinical and histologic outcomes were not better in patients treated with peginterferon. These findings do not support the use of long-term peginterferon in patients who do not have a sustained virologic response to initial therapy. Patients with chronic hepatitis C who did not have a sustained viral response to peginterferon and ribavirin were randomly assigned to receive low-dose peginterferon or no treatment for 3.5 years. The clinical and histologic outcomes were not better in patients treated with peginterferon. More than 3 million Americans and 170 million persons worldwide are chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), 1 , 2 which can result in progressive hepatic injury and fibrosis, culminating in cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease. 3 Among adults in the Western world, chronic hepatitis C is a major cause of cirrhosis and a major indication for liver transplantation. Chronic hepatitis C has contributed also to the increasing incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma, for which few satisfactory therapies exist. 4 Therapy with peginterferon and ribavirin for 24 to 48 weeks leads to a sustained loss of serum HCV RNA (termed a sustained virologic response), . . .