Authors
John G McHutchison, Stuart C Gordon, Eugene R Schiff, Mitchell L Shiffman, William M Lee, Vinod K Rustgi, Zachary D Goodman, Mei-Hsiu Ling, Susannah Cort, Janice K Albrecht
Publication date
1998/11/19
Journal
New England Journal of Medicine
Volume
339
Issue
21
Pages
1485-1492
Publisher
Massachusetts Medical Society
Description
Background
Only 15 to 20 percent of patients with chronic hepatitis C have a sustained virologic response to interferon therapy. We compared the efficacy and safety of recombinant interferon alfa-2b alone with those of a combination of interferon alfa-2b and ribavirin for the initial treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C.
Methods
We randomly assigned 912 patients with chronic hepatitis C to receive standard-dose interferon alfa-2b alone or in combination with ribavirin (1000 or 1200 mg orally per day, depending on body weight) for 24 or 48 weeks. Efficacy was assessed by measurements of serum hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA and serum aminotransferases and by liver biopsy.
Results
The rate of sustained virologic response (defined as an undetectable serum HCV RNA level 24 weeks after treatment was completed) was higher among patients who received combination therapy for either 24 weeks (70 of …
Total citations
Scholar articles
JG McHutchison, SC Gordon, ER Schiff, ML Shiffman… - New England Journal of Medicine, 1998
G McHutchinson, CG Stuart - N Engl J Med, 1998