Document Type
Article
Original Publication Date
2002
Journal/Book/Conference Title
The New England Journal of Medicine
Volume
347
Issue
13
First Page
975
Last Page
982
DOI of Original Publication
10.1056/NEJMoa020047
Date of Submission
January 2015
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Treatment with peginterferon alfa-2a alone produces significantly higher sustained virologic responses than treatment with interferon alfa-2a alone in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. We compared the efficacy and safety of peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin, interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin, and peginterferon alfa-2a alone in the initial treatment of chronic hepatitis C.
METHODS
A total of 1121 patients were randomly assigned to treatment and received at least one dose of study medication, consisting of 180 μg of peginterferon alfa-2a once weekly plus daily ribavirin (1000 or 1200 mg, depending on body weight), weekly peginterferon alfa-2a plus daily placebo, or 3 million units of interferon alfa-2b thrice weekly plus daily ribavirin for 48 weeks.
RESULTS
A significantly higher proportion of patients who received peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin had a sustained virologic response (defined as the absence of detectable HCV RNA 24 weeks after cessation of therapy) than of patients who received interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin (56 percent vs. 44 percent, P
CONCLUSIONS
In patients with chronic hepatitis C, once-weekly peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin was tolerated as well as interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin and produced significant improvements in the rate of sustained virologic response, as compared with interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin or peginterferon alfa-2a alone.
Rights
From The New England Journal of Medicine, Fried, M.W., Shiffman, M.L., Reddy, K.R., et al., Peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C virus infection, Vol. 347, Page 975, Copyright © 2002 Massachusetts Medical Society. Reprinted with permission.
Is Part Of
VCU Internal Medicine Publications
Comments
Originally published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa020047