Pegasys or PEGIntron

[drofi]

My doc says that I could start the Tx with either Pegasys or PEGIntron (each combined with ribavirin, of course). Are there any ideas how a choice could be based on rational reasons?
Are there any differences in the history of my hepatitis or any other factor(eg genotyp, age, gender, etc) for the decision?

[cuteus]

always read who is sponsoring the studies you read. do you think schering will publish a study they sponsored that says pegasys is better?

http://www.hivandhepatitis.com/hep_c/news/2004/060204_a.html

for every tit there is a tat
http://hepatitis-central.com/mt/archives/2004/11/pegasys_better.html
http://www.perssupport.anp.nl/Home/Persberichten/Actueel?itemId=72042
http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=104959

[cuteus]

the ideal study is not a true head to head. read the dosages used

[drofi]

I found this:

http://medunet.info/members/easl/pegintron-05.shtml

http://tinyurl.com/zftoy

http://www.idealstudy.com/

[cuteus]

I achieved SVR with Pegasys, and 1000mg of riba. sides were manageable. the best med is the one that cures you and allows you to finish tx because it is more bearable.  There is no head to head studies on these interferons, you will get a lot of anecdotes and 'my dr said this or that'.

[kespr]

I have done both pegintron and pegasys and had a much harder sides with the pegintron. 40 out of 48 wks I had chills & fever after the pegintron but only a few times with Pegasys. I relapsed 3 mo post on both

[worrywartwife]

I researched this recently-The antedotal evidence is that the side effects are a little harsher with pegintron. BUT my husband is genotype 2 and the majority of the data indicates for his type, pegasus has about an 80% SVR, and pegintron has about a 91% SVR. 11% is a heck of a difference! His doctor was willing to prescribe either. Our insurance company said the pegintron was a little costlier, but would approve either (God bless them-they have been unexpectably terrific). He is 4/24 and the side effects are certainly manageable, if not very fun. Best of Luck, JoAnn

[Rastiss]

Has anyone switched from one to the other in the middle of treatment with any success?

[desrt]

Peg-Intron patients have shown "greater up-regulation of interferon-alfa response genes". Pegasys patients have longer exposure to the drug, probably due to the branched PEG molecule (longer half-life) the IFN is attached to. Still works out to about the same resonse statistically. Someday, hopefully, we'll know who responds better to which one.

[FlGuy]

Not sure if you are going to get information to make a clear decision. You will probably have to toss a Mark to decide.  I had to recently make the decision too.  The first time I treated I used peg-Intron (Shering) and got to undetectable, but relapsed.  The stuff apparently worked.  But the sx's were pretty tough, in that I was unfunctional for most weekends (shot nite was Friday).
I decided to go with Pegasys (Roche) this time for a few reasons.  1) The sx's may be less.  This is just anecdotal but I think it will not be any worse than Intron. 2)I have not found an conclusive information that one is better than the other.  Any differences in results are minor and many of the studies are sponsored by Roche or Schering anyway. 3) I have a problem with my thumb joint and using the Redipen was a little awkward, pre-filled syringes should be easier to handle 4) Intron is weight-based, Roche is not.  Since I am about 82 kg it was not a significant factor.  But someone weighing more (like 95 kg+ may benefit by weight-based Intron, but not sure 5) Doctor did not have a preference (he's not on retainer or funded by either Schering or Roche) and he believes, from experience, that sx's from pegasys are fewer 6) I tossed a coin enough times so that the Pegasys side of the coin came up one time more than the Intron side of the coin.

[NYgirl]

It seems to really matter which COMPANY the doctors SALES TEAM is from (at their office or the university they studied at) is how they decide WHICH product they use.  Which company subsidizes the organization.  It's ALL a matter of MONEY $$$$$.  Doctoring and medical research etc. is serious business.


I went to Dr. Jacobson in New York recently and he said it doesn't matter - when you REALLY think about it from what I have been told is that the odds of a geno 1...PegIntron is a better gamble but has a bit harder side effects.

I think honestly peginterferon is peginterferon and that is that.

I'm glad my regular doctor put me on PegInt but if I was on Pegasys I wouldn't sweat it all that much.


There are much much bigger decisions to be made in the future on other things.

[drofi]

Great! If you find out more from looking into your documents, I would love to read more! THANK YOU! My decision will be based on prognosis of success, not on easyness of handling.

[GrandOak]

I actually looked into this very issue a couple of months ago when it was suggested that I consider changing from Pegasys to PegIntron.

One of the recent slide decks from Eugene Schiff (sic?) on Hep C tended to show that depending upon the Geno type, one seems to have a higher precentage of SVR than the other.  I don't have the deck at the office here, and will confirm tonight when I get home, but in looking at it just last night, I seem to recall that Pegasys was higher for Geno 1's and PegIntron for Geno's 2 & 3.

Some have claimed that Pegasys sx's were easier than PegIntron, but I also heard that the inverse was true for some.

The pre-loaded syringe of Pegasys was found to be more attractive than the need to mix by nearly all who've used both.

Just a few things I can recall off the top of my head.