Leukocyte interferon-alpha in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C in Finland

Background: To evaluate the efficacy of leukocyte interferon in previously untreated patients with chronic hepatitis C. 97 patients were enrolled in a prospective study in Finland with a stepped-cart management protocol. Meth ods: The treatment was initiated with 3 million units of interferon-alpha s ubcutaneously three times a week. At 3 months. if the serum alanine aminotr ansferase was still abnormal, the dose was doubled. If serum hepatitis C vi rus (MCV) RNA had turned negative at 6 months, the treatment was stopped, i f it was still positive, treatment was continued for up to 12 months. All p atients were followed up after treatment for 6 months. Altogether, 74 patie nts completed the treatment and followup periods. Results: Of all the origi nally enrolled patients 36% (35 of 97) achieved sustained virologic respons e, defined as HCV RNA negativity 6 months after the end of treatment. The c ommonest HCV genotype among these patients was 3a, and as many as 52% of su ch patients achieved sustained virologic response. Thirty-two per cent of t he patients had HCV genotype 1a, 1b, or a mixture of these; a sustained res ponse was achieved in only 6% of such patients but in 50% of patients with a non-1 genotype. Adverse effects caused treatment cessation for 10% of the patients and IFN dose reduction for 20%. Conclusions: Monotherapy with hum an leukocyte interferon resulted in sustained virologic response in 36% of patients with chronic hepatitis C. In those infected with a HCV genotype ot her than 1, the sustained virologic response rate was 50%.