New therapies for chronic hepatitis C infection: a systematic review of evidence from clinical trials

L. Y. Lee*, C. Y. W. Tong, Terry Wong, Mark Wilkinson

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Contribution to journalLiterature reviewpeer-review

    54 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) affects approximately 3% of the world population. The current standard of care for treatment of HCV is a combination of pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Approximately 10% of patients will stop treatment and 30% of patients require dose reduction because of side effects. For genotype 1 HCV-infected patients, only 40% of patients will achieve undetectable viral load 26 weeks posttreatment. 

    Aims: The objectives of this review were to identify new treatments that are in clinical trials. These include boceprevir and telaprevir which are in routine clinical use and form part of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) 2011 guidelines as well as drugs based on observational studies, improving/modifying ribavirin or interferon- based therapies, modifying the host response and finally the use of direct- acting antiviral agents (DAA). 

    Materials and methods: MEDLINE and EMBASE databases were searched from 2008 to 2011 for treatments for hepatitis C. Furthermore, abstracts and poster presentations for the annual European Association Study of the Liver, AASLD, Digestive Disease Week and Asian Pacific Association for the study of the Liver were searched for relevant material. 

    Results: All four classes of DAA; NS3/NS4a serine protease inhibitors, cyclophilin inhibitors, NS5b polymerase inhibitors and NS5a inhibitors, show good success rates. Trials have been performed without ribavirin or interferon and demonstrate good antiviral activity with a decreased side effect profile. Combinations of DAA are a promising area of research with a high success rate. 

    Conclusions: Clinical trials show that future HCV therapy could be personalised, achieve higher success rates with decreased adverse incidents.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)342-355
    Number of pages14
    JournalInternational Journal of Clinical Practice
    Volume66
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Apr 2012

    Keywords

    • PEGYLATED INTERFERON ALPHA-2A
    • HCV GENOTYPE 1
    • PLUS PEGINTERFERON ALPHA-2B/RIBAVIRIN
    • NONNUCLEOSIDE POLYMERASE INHIBITOR
    • SUSTAINED VIROLOGICAL RESPONSE
    • TREATMENT-NAIVE SUBJECTS
    • NS3 PROTEASE INHIBITOR
    • ANTIVIRAL ACTIVITY
    • RIBAVIRIN THERAPY
    • ALBINTERFERON ALPHA-2B

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