Boston 7-11 November 2014
Feedback from the real-world: do HCV cure rates in real-life patient cohorts hold what clinical trials promised?
Jurgen K. Rockstroh M.D., Professor of Medicine
University of Bonn, Germany
Correspondence:
Prof. Dr. J.K. Rockstroh
Department of Medicine I
University of Bonn
Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25
53105 Bonn
Germany
Tel.: +49-228-287 16558
FAX: +49-228-287 15034
e-mail: juergen.rockstroh@ukb.uni-bonn.de
Introduction
After this year EASL it appeared as if numerous interferon- and ribavirin-free DAA combinations were emerging which all promised HCV cure rates above 95% and that other than cost and treatment access issues the revolution of HCV therapy was taking place at an incredible pace leaving little room for further optimization. One of the frequently raised caveats however, was the lack of data in the so-called more difficult to treat "real-life patients" with higher rates of previous non-response to IFN-based therapies and cirrhosis. Also data on more challenging patient groups with additional comorbidities such as renal impairment or from the transplant setting were still scarce. Which role would ribavirin play in the future? How short could HCV treatment duration possibly become?
Clearly there were still many questions floating around from clinical practice. Therefore, this year AASLD was met with high expectations and interest as first data from the increasing use of DAA based HCV therapy from clinical practice outside of clinical trials was to be presented. A great summary on all HCV data was presented at AASLD (reviewing a proud number of 423 HCV presentations including 44 orals and 379 posters on HCV related topics) from Professor Fried and can be assessed through the AASLD website (1). The following conference report aims at covering the main HCV trials and clinical relevant HCV management issues presented at AASLD in Boston from 6-11 November 2014. It does not aim at completeness as the number of presentations on HCV therapy was higher than ever and covering all would produce an unreadable report but rather aims at capturing the main points of discussion with current HCV therapy.
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