Peginterferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin for naïve patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C: a randomized controlled trial

Impact of high-dose peginterferon alfa-2A on virological response rates in patients with hepatitis C genotype 1: A randomized controlled trial

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Most of these studies investigated standard interferon and included both HCV genotype 1 and non-1 patients, with variable periods of induction (4-14 weeks). Induction with standard interferon has improved initial HCV RNA decay 11 and initial virological responses, 8 but has in general failed to improve SVR.…”

“…4 Limited data exists on the efficacy of induction therapy with peginterferon alfa in patients infected with HCV genotype 1. 5,10,17 Of these, only one previous published study has reported on high-dose induction therapy with peginterferon alfa in patients with HCV genotype 1. 10 This Romanian study evaluated the efficacy of an initial 12 weeks of induction therapy with high-dose PEG-IFN␣-2b (3.0 g/kg/week) compared to standard dose PEG-IFN␣-2b (1.5 g/kg/week) in a small, randomized controlled trial of CHC patients including 75 with HCV genotype 1.…”

“…[4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] The rationale for this so-called induction strategy is that high-dose interferon may improve SVR by inducing a more rapid initial decline in HCV RNA. The relationships between interferon dose and early phase HCV kinetics, including phase I and II slope and time to undetectable HCV RNA, 12,13 and early virological responses and SVR support such a rationale.…”

“…The relationships between interferon dose and early phase HCV kinetics, including phase I and II slope and time to undetectable HCV RNA, 12,13 and early virological responses and SVR support such a rationale. 1,[14][15][16] Studies utilizing induction therapy with (peg)interferon in patients with genotype 1 CHC have yielded mixed results, with some patients demonstrating an enhanced SVR 4,5 and others not. [6][7][8][9][10][11] However, there has been no published randomized trial of high-dose induction therapy with peginterferon alfa-2a/b (PEG-IFN␣-2a/b) in a large population of treatment-naïve patients with genotype 1 CHC.…”

Suitable Treatment Period in Patients with Virological Response during Combination Therapy of Peginterferon and Ribavirin for Chronic Hepatitis C

“…The selection of duration of treatment and optimum doses of combination therapy is an area of active investigation (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15) Table 1. There was a significant difference in the serum level of HCV RNA before treatment among the four groups classified based on the difference of response.…”