Response to antiviral therapy in patients with genotype 3 chronic hepatitis C: fibrosis but not race encourages relapse.

Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2011 Jun 17. [Epub ahead of print]

Response to antiviral therapy in patients with genotype 3 chronic hepatitis C: fibrosis but not race encourages relapse.

Shoeb D, Rowe IA, Freshwater D, Mutimer D, Brown A, Moreea S, Sood R, Marley R, Sabin CA, Foster GR.

Source
The Liver Unit, Blizard Institute for Cellular and Molecular Science, Queen Mary University of London bThe Liver Unit, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham cSt Mary's Hospital, Imperial College London dBradford Teaching Hospitals Foundation Trust, Bradford eResearch Department of Infection and Population Health, University College London Medical School, Royal Free Campus, London, UK.

Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: We completed a retrospective analysis of patients with genotype 3 hepatitis C virus (HCV) undergoing therapy in four UK centres with large populations of patients from the Indian subcontinent.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: Notes on all patients treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin were reviewed and factors that influenced the response were examined.

RESULTS: Six hundred and four patients with genotype 3 HCV were studied, of whom 299 were Asians. Median age was 43 years, 65% were men and 24% had cirrhosis. Overall, 457 (76%) patients achieved sustained virological response (SVR). By multivariable analysis it was found that ethnicity was not associated with an impaired response but age, cirrhosis and diabetes were significantly associated with a reduced SVR, the likelihood of a response was reduced by 25% per 10-year increment in age, by 59% among individuals with cirrhosis and by 62% among individuals with diabetes mellitus. Most patients who did not achieve an SVR relapsed (15%) rather than failing to achieve an end of treatment response.

CONCLUSION: The response to antiviral therapy in genotype 3 HCV is not affected by South Asian (vs. Caucasian) ethnicity, but age, cirrhosis and diabetes reduce the response. Treatment failure most often is due to relapse.

PMID: 21691208 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]