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From Trials to a Real Hospital Setting: Effectiveness of Pegylated Interferon-α-2b/Ribavirin Combination Therapy for Naïve Chronic Hepatitis C Patients

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Abstract

Registration trials regarding pegylated interferon treatment of hepatitis C have created great expectations for improved results, but there is little information on actual outcomes in everyday hospital practice. We aimed to define the effectiveness of this treatment in a hospital setting. Seventy-four naïve patients with hepatitis C treated with 12 kD-pegylated-interferon-α-2-b/ribavirin (PEG-IFN) were retrospectively analyzed in comparison with 54 patients treated with IFN-α-2-b/ribavirin (STANDARD IFN) and with results of three main registration trials. Overall sustained viral response rates were 46% in the STANDARD IFN group and 54% in PEG-IFN group, ranging from 48–61% in similar arms of the registration trials considered, although more of our patients presented comorbidity and high-grade fibrosis, and our dosages at outset of PEG-IFN were lower than optimal (mean 1.18 μg/kg BW). In our hospital setting, the effectiveness of PEG-IFN/ribavirin therapy appeared similar to that reported in large registration trials.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Mrs. P. Feola, Mrs. M. Iodice, and the whole nursing staff for their daily work in liver clinic; Dr A. Lonardo for revising manuscript with appreciated suggestions; and Mrs. Mary Spears for her final English language revision.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. UOS Malattie Epatiche Croniche, UOC Gastroenterologia ed Endoscopia Digestiva, AORN San Sebastiano, via Palasciano, 81100, Caserta, Italy

    Guido Piai, Elisa Scalice, Rosaria Focareta, Fulvia Terracciano, Francesca Romana de Filippo & Giovambattista Forte

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  1. Guido Piai
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  2. Elisa Scalice
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  3. Rosaria Focareta
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  4. Fulvia Terracciano
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  5. Francesca Romana de Filippo
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  6. Giovambattista Forte
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Correspondence to Guido Piai.

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Piai, G., Scalice, E., Focareta, R. et al. From Trials to a Real Hospital Setting: Effectiveness of Pegylated Interferon-α-2b/Ribavirin Combination Therapy for Naïve Chronic Hepatitis C Patients. Dig Dis Sci 51, 1619–1626 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-006-9110-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10620-006-9110-8

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