Current and evolving therapies for hepatitis C

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a leading cause of chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma worldwide, Therapeutic option s for hepatitis C are limited. Standard monotherapy with interferon-alpha l eads to a sustained response in only 10-20% of patients, Recent studies hav e shown improved sustained response rates for the combination of interferon -a and ribavirin. Despite these improvements, more effective therapies are needed, A variety of alternative agents are currently being evaluated in cl inical trials, Recent advances in the molecular virology of hepatitis C hav e identified specific antiviral targets such as the viral NS3 serine protea se, the RNA helicase, and the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, In addition, ge ne therapeutic strategies aimed at inhibiting HCV gene expression and repli cation as well as immunotherapeutic concepts aimed at enhancing the cellula r immune response against HCV are being explored in various experimental sy stems. These and other novel antiviral strategies may complement the existi ng therapeutic modalities in the future.