High rate of sustained response to consensus interferon plus ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients resistant to alpha-interferon and ribavirin: a pilot study

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate an alternative treatment (consensus interferon plus ribavirin) for chronic hepatitis C patients resistant to combined therapy. Methods: Fourteen patients previously resistant to interferon alpha plus ribavirin were consecutively assigned to receive 15 μg of consensus interferon plus ribavirin (1000 mg) daily for 4 weeks, and 9–15 μg every other day plus daily ribavirin for the following 44 weeks. Alanine aminotransferase and hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA (Amplicor Monitor; Roche) levels were monitored during therapy and for 24 weeks after its completion. Results: A rapid and marked decrease of HCV RNA viremia of more than 2 logs was observed in 10 (71%) of 14 patients at week 2 of treatment. At the end of therapy, 10 (71%) of 14 patients had undetectable HCV RNA. The end-of-treatment response rates were 6 of 9 (67%) patients for genotype 1 and 4 of 5 (80%) for other genotypes. Sustained response was observed in 4 (36%) of 11 patients who completed 24 weeks of follow-up. Conclusions: A marked and rapid decrease of viral load was observed during therapy with high doses of consensus interferon plus ribavirin in patients previously resistant to combined therapy, even in those infected with genotype 1. Of 11 patients who completed the post-treatment follow-up, 36% presented a sustained response. Received July 23, 2001 / Accepted: January 25, 2002 Reprint requests to: S.K. Ono-Nita Editorial on page 766