Triple combination treatment of chronic hepatitis C
Husa, P.
Vnitrni Lekarstvi 58(7-8): 588-590
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 0042-773X PMID: 23067190 Document Number: 656414
The 2011 has brought about a significant change in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. This change has been enabled by commercial availability of new antiviral agents for treatment of chronic HCV infection - telaprevir and boceprevir - in combination with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) α and ribavirin (RBV). The triple combination is significantly more effective than the PEG-IFN and RBV combination alone in antiviral treatment-naive patients as well as in patients in whom the traditional PEG-IFN and RBV combination did not provide permanent HCV infection elimination. In treatment-naive patients, the triple combination is approximately 2-fold more effective than the standard treatment with PEG-IFN and RBV and the effect of the triple combination is 3-fold higher when used in pre-treated patients instead of repeated PEG-IFN and RBV treatment.