To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Similar Efficacy Shown For Pegylated Interferon Alfa-2b, Pegylated Interferon Alfa-2a for Hepatitis C: Presented at AASLD URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/216D46.htm Doctor's Guide November 7, 2007
By Maria Bishop BOSTON, MA -- November 7, 2007 -- There is no difference in sustained viral response (SVR) rates between patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) who were treated with pegylated interferon alfa-2b versus pegylated interferon alfa-2a, when used in combination with weight-based ribavirin, researchers reported here at the 58th Annual Scientific Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD). Ihab Hammoud, MD, Gastroenterology Fellow, Henry Ford Health System (HFHS), Detroit, Michigan, United States, led a team of colleagues from the HFHS in a retrospective, single-centre, head-to-head evaluation of the two treatments in 259 patients with HCV. The authors examined data from all treatment-naïve patients with HCV who had been treated with a pegylated interferon and weight-based ribavirin at their tertiary medical centre from 2001 through 2005. Overall, 212 subjects had been treated with a weight-based dose of pegylated interferon alfa-2b plus weight-based ribavirin. The other 47 patients had been treated with a standard dose of pegylated interferon alfa-2a plus weight-based ribavirin. Baseline demographics were similar between the two groups, with nearly 40% of each cohort comprised of African-Americans, 74% in each cohort being genotype 1 and nearly 60% in each cohort having a high viral load (HCV > 800,000). SVR was 38% for the peginterferon alfa-2b group, and 40% in the peginterferon alfa-2a group. Rates were naturally lower in the genotype 1 patients (23% vs 26%, respectively), and even more so in genotype 1 patients with a high viral load (20% vs 30%, respectively). Dr. Hammoud's team noted that dose reductions were similar between the two groups (8% in the peginterferon alfa-2b group and 2% in the alfa-2a group). There were no significant differences in outcomes or in safety parameters among patients. This study was neither randomised nor controlled, cohort sizes were not matched, and none of the study data reached significance. A larger, prospective trial -- the Individualized Dosing Efficacy versus flat dosing to Assess optimaL pegylated interferon therapy (IDEAL) trial -- is currently ongoing to further explore the efficacy in these two treatment regimes, Dr. Hammoud's team noted. [Presentation title: Pegintereferon Alpha-2b Versus Peginterferon Alpha-2a in the Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C Infection. Abstract 329] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. P\S\L shall not be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in this content or any other content on its sites, newsletters or other publications, nor for any decisions or actions taken in reliance on such content. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This news story was printed from *Doctor's Guide to the Internet* located at http://www.docguide.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to News Story Page This site is maintained by webmaster@pslgroup.com Please contact us with any comments, problems or bugs. All contents Copyright (c) 1998 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved.