Challenges in Treating Genotype 3 Hepatitis C Virus

Christin L. Melton, ELS

November 01, 2017

Challenges in Treating Genotype 3 Hepatitis C Virus

Sustained virological response (SVR), defined as "an HCV RNA level below the threshold of quantification,"⁴ sustained for 12 to 24 weeks after treatment ends, is considered predictive of cure. In clinical trials of the DAA agent sofosbuvir plus ribavirin, only 30% to 60% of patients with GT3 had SVR after 12 to 16 weeks of therapy compared with 95% of patients with GT2.^2,3 Data have shown patients with GT3 HCV have faster progression of fibrosis and higher rates of cirrhosis, severe steatosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma.^2,4 Steatosis is associated with higher viral loads, and cirrhosis predicts a lower likelihood of cure in treatment-naive patients, which may help explain the worse SVR rates in patients with GT3 relative to other HCV genotypes.⁴ Indeed, when SVR in patients with GT3 is stratified according to the presence of compensated cirrhosis or prior treatment failure, previously untreated patients and patients without cirrhosis are much more likely to achieve SVR with DAA therapy...

Read more: http://www.infectiousdiseaseadvisor.com/hepatitis/treatment-challenges-hcv-genotype-3/article/703872/