Should aged patients with chronic hepatitis C be treated with interferon and ribavirin combination therapy?

Indications and limitations for aged patients with chronic hepatitis C in pegylated interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin combination therapy

“…However, in aged patients, problems remain with respect to its anti-viral effect and tolerability [5][6][7][8][9]. Recently, the addition of a protease inhibitor to Peg-IFN plus ribavirin combination therapy has been reported, on the one hand, to improve the anti-viral effect, and, on the other hand, to increase side effects, especially severe anemia [10][11].…”

Early decline of hemoglobin correlates with progression of ribavirin-induced hemolytic anemia during interferon plus ribavirin combination therapy in patients with chronic hepatitis C

“…In this study, many patients, especially older ones, had to discontinue ribavirin due to severe anemia, as previously reported. 26 A major reason for this was thought to be the tendency of the plasma concentration of ribavirin to rise due to lower renal function and impaired hematogenous function as the anemia progressed. In predicting the discontinuance of ribavirin due to severe anemia using the CL/F category, the lower CL/F implies that older patients and patients with low renal function are high-risk groups.…”

Efficacy and Safety of Telaprevir-Based Antiviral Treatment for Elderly Patients with Hepatitis C Virus

“…However, the treatment of CHC patients, particularly elderly adults, has been challenging due to severe side effects of PEG-IFN α-2b (e.g., anorexia, systemic lassitude, and cytopenia) and RBV (e.g., anemia) [9,10,11]. …”