Retreatment for 24 vs 48 weeks with interferon‐α2b plus ribavirin of chronic hepatitis C patients who relapsed or did not respond to interferon alone

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Abstract
We assessed the efficacy of interferon (IFN) plus ribavirin over 24 or 48 weeks for the retreatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C who had relapsed or did not respond to a previous course of IFN. One‐hundred and twenty patients (69 non‐responders and 51 relapsers) were randomly assigned to receive IFN‐α2b (3 million units thrice weekly) plus ribavirin (1000–1200 mg per day) for 24 weeks (group A: 58 patients) or 48 weeks (group B: 62 patients). Treatment was discontinued at week 12 if the alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level remained elevated. The rate of sustained response was 15.5% in group A and 37.1% in group B (P=0.013). Relapsers treated for 48 weeks had a sustained response rate of 66.6% compared with a sustained response rate of only 25% in those treated for 24 weeks (P=0.004). Moreover, a sustained response was seen in 14.3% of non‐responders treated for 48 weeks and in 8.8% of those treated for 24 weeks (P=0.71). Fifty‐three per cent of patients with a normal ALT level and undetectable hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA at week 12 had a sustained response compared with 14% of those who were HCV RNA positive at week 12 (P < 0.001). Independent predictive factors of sustained response were: therapy for 48 weeks (P=0.0026), relapse after IFN treatment (P=0.0006), loss of HCV RNA at week 12 (P=0.0008) and HCV genotype non‐1 (P=0.024). Hence, in patients with chronic hepatitis C who failed to respond to a previous course of IFN monotherapy, combination therapy with IFN plus ribavirin for 48 weeks seems to be more effective than IFN plus ribavirin for 24 weeks.