Diagnosis: Stage 1 fibrosis

[Joycie1950]

Hi
I am 62 years old.
I had a liver biopsy last week.
Today I was informed by my primary care doctor that I have Stage 1 Fibrosis, no cancer.
I've had Hep C for about 35 years.
The doctor didn't seem too worried for me.
I don't use alcohol, drugs or Tylenol. I eat very well and take vitamins & supplements and exercise.
Is Stage 1 Fibrosis dangerous given my lifestyle?
I have an appointment with a "Liver" Doc at the end of the month. Kaiser care.
Are there any drug studies that don't make the patient really sick to cure the Hep C?
Thanks

[FaithforHealing]

Country, You are taking more riba and inf than me, plus I don't take a third drug as I am g-2. I wish I was doing as well as you!  It's amazing and wonderful that you are feeling as good as you are; glad to hear it. As often mentioned on here, we hear more from those who are suffering and truly need more support; those doing well, going to work, etc. really don't have much inclination and/or time to post, and I say congrats to them!

Advocate and Country, I did start a new thread on this and Hector responded on the correlation of liver damage and difficulty of tx. If you didn't already see it you may want to read it at
www.medhelp.org/posts/Hepatitis-C/Correlation-between-extent-of-liver-damage-and-ease-of-tx/show/1792298?personal_page_id=2579275

Thank you both for answering, hang in there and keep doing well! FFH

[Advocate1955]

Hi Faith,
I think it could be both.  The side effects and risks of therapy may be more difficult for people with more liver damage.  I believe that most doctors will not treat someone who has decompensated cirrhosis because the treatment may be too hard on the liver and cause the liver to fail.  That is why it is best to treat earlier rather than later.
Advocate1955

[countrygirlcansurvive]

Hello again! I'm on 1000mg Riba a day and 180cc of INF and the400mg of the GS7977 once a day...

Country~

[FaithforHealing]

Sorry for hijacking this thread....I just realized I should start a new one.

[FaithforHealing]

I too have read as you wrote, " I have read that the more liver fibrosis a person has, the more likelihood they could have complications with their treatment."  
I just haven't found any good documentation of that, just opinion, but lately during tx I'm not the swiftest at finding documentation, lol.

I'm wondering exactly what they mean by "more complications with tx"; if it is a matter of more or stronger sx due to one's chemistry/abnormal labs on all sorts of things, or if it because it is actually more damaging/ harder on the liver itself.

I know....I seem to ask a lot of crazy questions that may not be worthy of answers, but it must be the tx, lol.

[FaithforHealing]

So good to hear of your experience! Maybe it has to do with the new treatment although you say you are still getting riba and inf, both of which are considered to be so hard on one in tx. Maybe you are just one of those lucky ones who seem to just sail through for some unknown reason? However, your liver is certainly very compromised which should, if true as has been said, make tx more difficult.
What are the doses of your riba and inf? Lower than SOC?
Thanks for chiming in on this.

[Joycie1950]

I have Genotype 1.

[Joycie1950]

Hi Belle19,
I had my liver biopsy on Friday last week. I can't get in to see the liver doc until Aug 27th. I have Kaiser care. I feel very well taken care of with them.
I heard from my previous doc, who is now retired, that there is a new treatment that doesn't have ribavirin or interferon in it. I'll have to wait & see what my new doc has planned. I will post again after I see her.
Thanks for being there!
Joycie1950

[Advocate1955]

I will wait for others to chime in with more information, but I believe that there is a correlation between stage of liver fibrosis and difficulty of treatment.  I have read that the more liver fibrosis a person has, the more likelihood they could have complications with their treatment.  
Advocate1955

[countrygirlcansurvive]

My Two Cents!
I have Stage 5 of 6 Fibrosis and Early Stage of Cirrhosis,I am on the Phase 3 therapy of GS7977,Riba and Interferon.Treatment so far has been really good for me,it has not been harder bc of my liver damage.The Sx in the beginning was very little and now at week 8 of 12 I have no Sx.There is no placebo in my study either.JMO

~Country~

[FaithforHealing]

Hi OH, I think our posts just crossed in cyberspace. :)

I'm wondering if you know the correlation between the extent of liver damage/cirrhosis and the "ease" of tx (if in fact there is any).
I've seen several people make comments that tx (like SOC) is much harder on more advanced liver damage; know anything about that?
Still just learning what to even ask.....FFH

[FaithforHealing]

As said, there are trials/studies with new drugs and less side effects. If you look for one, look for a Phase 3 if at all possible, and a Phase 2 is better than a Phase 1
I am in a trial and if a placebo is at all a part of the study they must disclose that; however, they won't disclose if you are on it or not. So, my suggestion, would be to not enter into any trial that says it will be using a placebo arm. I think those are generally Phase 1 trials at least in HCV trials.
If you post questions about trials for your genotype, you will get a lot of feedback on this site. Many members are participating in them and seem quite pleased.
Welcome and good luck as you move forward. BTW, I'm a 1950er, too. :)

[orphanedhawk]

At 62 and having had the virus for 35 years you're very fortunate to only be at stage one.
If it were me, I'd take a watch and see approach. I don't think anyone can know for certain how fast your fibrosis will progress, which is why your doctor did the biopsy.

The current treatment is difficult and not with out potential long term side effects.
There are better treatment meds currently in clinical trial that should be available in a few years. The important thing is to take good care of your liver, which you are doing by avoiding tylenol and not drinking.

There are some very promising clinical trials but as frijole mentioned, you have to be careful and do your homework before deciding which one to do.
Some of our members are doing trials.

To answer your other question, no, having fibrosis at stage one should not interfere with your current lifestyle.

It sounds like you're already going to see a hepatologist ( liver specialist). You're on the right path.

[belle19]

oops!  just read your post...you already had a biopsy.  must be brain fog again.  sorry..my bad.  belle

[belle19]

welcome to the forum.  there are a lot of caring and helpful people here.  let us know what your "liver" doc says.  are you going to have a liver biopsy?  that will tell the full story on your liver.  how did your primary care doc find out you had stage 1?  best wishes...belle

[Advocate1955]

Welcome to the forum.  As frijole said above, the Hep C virus can continue to damage your liver.  Your fibrosis can progress.
Advocate1955

[frijole]

When they do a biopsy it is usually graded and staged.  Grading is the amount of inflammation and it goes from 1 - 4.  The stage is the amount of fibrosis (scarring) that comes from the constant inflammation.  I have asked my doctor to ask the pathologist to grade and stage my biopsy when it was not done.  They can also tell you the scale they are using .

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/factsheets_pdf/grade_stage.pdf

If you would like, you can type out  the wording on the entire biopsy report and we can tell a lot more.  None of us here are doctors, only patients treating or done treating or thinking about treating for Hep C.

You do have a wonderful lifestyle, but the answer to your question is yes, the liver damage can and probably will continue as long as the inflammation caused by the virus continues.  The current treatment is Ribavirin and Interferon and, if you are a genotype 1, an added protease inhibitor such as Victrelis or Incevik.  We are all different and the meds affect us differently  Some get very sick, some have moderate episodes of side effects.  There are some other things being tested that could have less side effects, but they are not available to everyone and if you choose a trial, be careful what you choose.  You could spend a lot of time on a placebo.

Welcome to the forum.
frijole