question

[sfwandwow]

i was told if ur ast and alt and enzymes and all blood work came back normal, ur liver is getting better..can anyone enlighten this... and if we become UND the liver is regenerating also..Have a great one.. I was talkingto a friend and they said they read something about that..  

[Bobby1952]

Its funny you mentioned.

" i also learned that even if i had not responded to tx that my doc would have kep't me on a maintenance of peg/inf. the reason explained to me by my doc was that it would help to keep my liver from progressing and or delay the damage done to my liver. "

I just read a study on Clinicaloptions.com that stated in the HALT-C trial that prolonged use of Interferon which is usually at 90 ug "DOES NOT STOP THE PROGRESSION OF LIVER FIBROSIS" .  Your DR. like mine and many others is not up on the latest studies.

Maintenance Peginterferon for Previous Peginterferon/Ribavirin Nonresponders
Raymond T. Chung, MD:
Low-dose peginterferon alfa maintenance therapy was another promising potential strategy for reducing liver disease progression in patients with a prior nonresponse to peginterferon alfa/ribavirin.[38] With regard to this strategy, final data from the Hepatitis C Antiviral Long-term Treatment Against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) were presented in Boston (Capsule Summary).[39] This very carefully planned randomized, prospective, controlled study was conducted by multiple investigators under the auspices of the National Institutes of Health. A total of 1050 previous nonresponders to peginterferon alfa/ribavirin were randomized to long-term therapy with low-dose peginterferon alfa-2a (90 µg/week) or no treatment. Primary outcomes assessed at 3.5 years included death, hepatic decompensation, the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, and histologic fibrosis progression in patients who were noncirrhotic at baseline.

This trial definitively demonstrated the lack of utility of maintenance peginterferon alfa-2a, as there were no significant differences in the rates of primary outcomes between the peginterferon alfa-2a maintenance and control groups (34.1% vs 33.8%, respectively). Subgroup analysis showed that neither patients with bringing bridging fibrosis (Ishak score: 3 or 4) nor those with cirrhosis (Ishak score: 5 or 6) benefited from low-dose peginterferon alfa-2a maintenance in terms of any of the clinically meaningful endpoints.

Therefore, maintenance peginterferon alfa is unfortunately not likely to be a viable strategy for the management of the nonresponding patient population. We look forward to further subgroup analysis to see whether specific patients, such as those classified as suppressors who achieved normalized liver enzymes and undetectable HCV RNA on maintenance therapy, might in fact benefit from this therapeutic approach. For the time being, however, it is difficult to recommend any form of maintenance therapy for our patients.

[kcrandy]

i was told by my doc that if i achieve sustained viral response after tx that my liver could repair or heal itself up to 50% of the damage caused by the virus.  i also learned that even if i had not responded to tx that my doc would have kep't me on a maintenance of peg/inf. the reason explained to me by my doc was that it would help to keep my liver from progressing and or delay the damage done to my liver.  also i was told that while on tx that the liver does gain benefits at this time and allows it to regenerate.

hope this helps