hepatitis treatment

latest treatment for hcv,whether it is completely curable

[fretboard]

The cure is SVR.  Read around, welcome and yes it is curable, the only thing is is your blood will always show that you once had it, I think.  Please correct me if I am wrong, somebody.  Also, there was another post that showed that SVR=cure, I don't know where it's at, maybe someone will post it.  later

Expert opinion on the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis

C.Zeuzem S, Berg T, Moeller B, Hinrichsen H, Mauss S, Wedemeyer H, Sarrazin C, Hueppe D, Zehnter E, Manns MP.
Zentrum der Inneren Medizin, Klinikum der Johann Wolfgang Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt, Germany.

The current preferred treatment for patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) is combination therapy consisting of pegylated interferon alfa and ribavirin (RBV) for 24-48 weeks. Although this approach appears to be highly effective for patients with HCV genotypes 2 or 3, who have a sustained virological response (SVR) of approximately 80%, the treatment algorithm is less effective for patients with HCV genotype 1, as these patients have SVR rates of just 40-50%. In order to improve treatment outcomes, this article explores potential approaches for the optimization of treatment for patients with HCV genotype 1: considering shorter treatment periods for patients with a rapid virological response (RVR), increasing treatment periods for slow responders, and increasing RBV dose are all suggestions. Results from clinical trials suggest that approximately 20% of the HCV genotype 1-infected population are slow responders, and around 15% of all HCV genotype-1 infected patients could benefit from a shorter treatment duration without compromising the SVR rate. Interest has also focused on whether treatment duration could be individualized in some patients with genotype 2 and 3 infection. Here all the findings from recent studies are translated into practical advice, to help practitioners make evidence-based treatment decisions in everyday clinical practice. Although there are areas where currently available data do not provide conclusive evidence to suggest amending treatment approaches, there is clearly potential for individualized treatment in all aspects of hepatitis treatment in the future.

PMID: 18761607 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]

[greencharles]

Without getting caught up in semantics, I wouldn’t be too quick to say SVR = cure, or visa versa. In my opinion SVR merely describes a state in which someone continues to successfully suppress the virus after TX.

I would enjoy reading the study that confirms SVR=cure once and for all, however I haven’t seen it yet. I’m not trying to take the shine off SVR, either (for all intensive purposes the bug is dead), but I find it difficult to believe that every trace of the once trillions of replicating viral copies that once populated the HCV+er, (pre-tx) have been mopped up from every nook and cranny, deep within the vast cellular labyrinth that is the human body.

It’s the same reason why successful cancer sufferers are described as being in remission after their tx.

greencharles