Future of liver disease in the era of direct acting antivirals for the treatment of hepatitis C

World J Hepatol. 2017 Mar 8;9(7):352-367. doi: 10.4254/wjh.v9.i7.352.

Future of liver disease in the era of direct acting antivirals for the treatment of hepatitis C.
Ponziani FR1, Mangiola F1, Binda C1, Zocco MA1, Siciliano M1, Grieco A1, Rapaccini GL1, Pompili M1, Gasbarrini A1.

Published online: March 8, 2017
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Core tip: The approval of new direct acting antivirals with high rates of virological clearance and excellent tolerability has dramatically improved hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection curability, especially for patients with advanced liver disease and for liver transplant recipients. The aim of this review is to draw the possible future scenery in HCV-related liver disease, focusing our attention on the impact of second generation direct acting antivirals on liver fibrosis, hepatocellular carcinoma and liver transplantation.

Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been a global health problem for decades, due to the high number of infected people and to the lack of effective and well-tolerated therapies. In the last 3 years, the approval of new direct acting antivirals characterized by high rates of virological clearance and excellent tolerability has dramatically improved HCV infection curability, especially for patients with advanced liver disease and for liver transplant recipients. Long-term data about the impact of the new direct acting antivirals on liver fibrosis and liver disease-related outcomes are not yet available, due to their recent introduction. However, previously published data deriving from the use of pegylated-interferon and ribavirin lead to hypothesizing that we are going to observe, in the future, a reduction in mortality and in the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma, as well as a regression of fibrosis for people previously affected by hepatitis C. In the liver transplant setting, clinical improvement has already been described after treatment with the new direct acting antivirals, which has often led to patients delisting. In the future, this may hopefully reduce the gap between liver organ request and availability, probably expanding liver transplant indications to other clinical conditions. Therefore, these new drugs are going to change the natural history of HCV-related liver disease and the epidemiology of HCV infection worldwide. However, the global consequences will depend on treatment accessibility and on the number of countries that could afford the use of the new direct acting antivirals.

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