Interferon Combination treatments for return active virus

  After reading Tim's inquiry of Oct. 24 and the response, I had a few questions about my mother's situation.  She contracted the virus about 25 years ago through blood transfusions.  The virus was discovered about 7 years ago.  She had significant cirrhosis already to her liver and was initially told whe might live 2 to 3 years to live with no treatment. She went on interferon treatments for a couple of years with the results being that it "significantly slowed the progression of the virus."  About a year ago, she began an experimental program taking a combination of interferon and "something else" (I don't know what), but since it was experimental, she's not sure if she received the placebo or the real drug.  (She definitely got the interferon.)  The virus went into remission after 12 weeks of treatment, but she continued in the study for the 12-month period.
  She went off the treatment about 6 weeks ago. She had her bloodwork done at 4 weeks, and got the news yesterday that the active virus is back.  She is going to discuss her options with her doctor next Tuesday and to find out if she was on the real treatment program or just the interferon.
  My questions are:
  Since she responded to the interferon the first time, and evidently the second time (combination treatment or not) what is the likelihood that she going another round of some kind of treatment will help?
  Is there any chance the virus will go back in remission?
  Do you feel she will have to stay on some kind of treatment constantly to have any kind of slowed progress?
  What kind of results are possible from the ribo...(?) combination?
  What new research is being done?
  Do you know anything about Bio-Pro Thymic Protein A, a "natural treatment extract of Bovine Thymus"?
  I know you may not be able to answer all these, but I would like to be able to offer her some information in addition to that she receives from her physician.  Any help you can give me is appreciated.

[HFHSM.D.-D.M.]

Dear Terri:
I appreciated your questions and I certainly appreciate your concern about your mother who has hepatitis C and who has cirrhosis on biopsy.  I want to be as helpful as possible, but this is one of those circumstances where if you can give me a little more information, I can probably give you quite a bit more information.  First and foremost, it should be relatively simple for you or your mother to find out what drug is being used in her study in combination with interferon.  In addition, if she is now finished the trial and is off drug, you or she should also be able to find out if she received interferon with either the placebo or the experimental drug.  
These bits of information are really critical.  I would not want to recommend a treatment to you or your mother just to find out if she had already received it.  On the other hand, if she was in a trial using interferon and ribavirin and she received the placebo (interferon alone), she might be a very good candidate for combination therapy using interferon with ribavirin.  Patients who relapse after interferon alone, do exceptionally well with this combination.  If on the other hand, she has failed interferon with ribavirin, she will have to consider other options.
To answer your final question, I do not know anything specific about