Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C with Recombinant Interferon Alfa

Abstract

Chronic hepatitis C (non-A, non-B hepatitis) is a common and often progressive viral liver disease. To assess the efficacy of therapy with the antiviral agent interferon alfa, we randomly assigned 166 patients with chronic hepatitis C to treatment with either 3 million or 1 million units of recombinant interferon alfa three times weekly for 24 weeks, or to no treatment. The probability of normalization or near normalization of the serum alanine aminotransferase levels after six months of interferon therapy was 46 percent in patients treated with 3 million units of interferon (P less than 0.001) and 28 percent in those treated with 1 million units (P less than 0.02), but only 8 percent in untreated patients. The serum alanine aminotransferase level became completely normal in 22 of the 26 patients (85 percent) who responded to treatment with 3 million units of interferon and 9 of the 16 patients (56 percent) who responded to treatment with 1 million units. The patients who received 3 million units of interferon had histologic improvement because of the regression of lobular and periportal inflammation. Relapse within six months after the completion of treatment occurred in 51 percent of the patients treated with 3 million units of interferon and 44 percent of those treated with 1 million units. We conclude that a 24-week course of interferon therapy is effective in controlling disease activity in many patients with hepatitis C, although relapse after the cessation of treatment is common.

Effects of interferon alpha treatment on recurrence and survival after complete resection or ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma: A meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

“…20 Among these, IFN therapy may be one of the most promising approaches because IFNs not only possess antitumor properties including antiproliferative, 21,22 antiangiogenic, [23][24][25] and immunomodulatory effects 26 on tumors, but also have antiviral activities with clearance or suppression of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) (HBV and HCV infections are the most common etiologies of HCC) in a variable proportion of patients. [27][28][29] In recent years, several clinical trials have suggested that adjuvant IFN-a treatment could obviously influence recurrence and survival of HCC patients after resection or ablation, while results in these trials were inconsistent. 8,12,[30][31][32][33][34][35] As far as early recurrence was concerned, some suggested that IFN-a could suppress early recurrence, 8,35 but others denied.…”

Effect of Interferon Therapy on Hepatocellular Carcinogenesis in Patients With Chronic Hepatitis Type C: A Long–Term Observation Study of 1,643 Patients Using Statistical Bias Correction With Proportional Hazard Analysis

“…According to our estimation of the carcinogenesis rates in untreated patients with chronic hepatitis C, 7 5-year, 10-year, and 15-year rates were 4.8%, 13.6%, and 26.0%, respectively. Because life expectancy of patients with HCV-related cirrhosis is largely influenced by development of HCC in the clinical course, and because an effective and truly curative therapy for HCC still remains limited at best, primary prevention of HCC in patients with chronic liver disease is of great importance.Interferon (IFN) is effective in eliminating HCV and in reducing serum alanine transaminase (ALT) in some patients with chronic hepatitis C. [8][9][10][11] The response to IFN therapy is related to factors including HCV subtype, serum concentration of HCV, IFN treatment schedule, and liver histology. 11-14 A Japanese trial of IFN for patients with HCV-related cirrhosis showed that IFN therapy decreased the HCC appearance rate through the disappearance of HCV RNA.…”

“…Interferon (IFN) is effective in eliminating HCV and in reducing serum alanine transaminase (ALT) in some patients with chronic hepatitis C. [8][9][10][11] The response to IFN therapy is related to factors including HCV subtype, serum concentration of HCV, IFN treatment schedule, and liver histology. [11][12][13][14] A Japanese trial of IFN for patients with HCV-related cirrhosis showed that IFN therapy decreased the HCC appearance rate through the disappearance of HCV RNA.…”

Mutations in nonstructural protein 5A gene and response to interferon in hepatitis C virus genotype 2 infection

“…[1][2][3] To date, hepatitis C virus (HCV) is classified into at least 9 major genotypes and more than 30 subtypes. 4,5 In Japan, about 70% of the patients with chronic hepatitis C are infected with HCV genotype 1b (HCV-1b), and the rest are infected with HCV genotype 2 (HCV-2) 6 (25% with HCV-2a and 5% with HCV-2b).…”