H. Hagiwara et al., RETREATMENT WITH 24-WEEK COURSE OF INTERFERON-ALPHA FOR PATIENTS WITHCHRONIC HEPATITIS-C, HEPATOLOGY RESEARCH, 5(2), 1996, pp. 135-142
Twenty-nine patients with chronic hepatitis C were retreated with a 24
-week course of natural interferon-a to evaluate the efficacy of retre
atment with interferon for patients who were resistant to previous the
rapy. At 6 months after the end of retreatment, three patients (10%) h
ad achieved sustained alanine aminotransferase normalization and susta
ined clearance of hepatitis C virus RNA in serum. Fifteen patients (52
%) showed alanine aminotransferase normalization during retreatment bu
t suffered from relapse during the 24 weeks after retreatment. In 11 p
atients (38%), no significant decrease of alanine aminotransferase was
observed during and after retreatment. Three of ten patients with hep
atitis C virus RNA of 2.3 x 10(5) equivalents/ml or less became sustai
ned responders but none of the patients with a higher virus level achi
eved a sustained response. These results indicate that retreatment wit
h a 24-week course of interferon is not efficient and other approaches
are needed to attain a higher rate of sustained response, especially
in patients with high viral load.