Background/aim: To evaluate long-term outcomes in decompensated HCV-related cirrhotic patients treated with antiviral therapy.
Methods: Of 129 eligible patients, 66 received peginterferon alfa-2b and ribavirin for 24 weeks, and 63 were controls. Survival and recurrence of liver failure events after therapy were main outcomes.
Results: Therapy was tolerated by 27 patients, dose reduced in 26 for toxicity, and discontinued in 13 for intolerance. End-of-therapy and sustained virological response (SVR) rates were 82.6% and 43.5% for HCV 2/3 patients, and 30.2% and 7.0% for HCV 1/4 patients. During therapy, odds ratios for severe infections or deaths due to infection were 2.95 (95% C.I. 0.93-9.3) and 1.97 (95% C.I. 0.40-9.51) in treated patients as compared with controls. During a follow-up of 30 months off-therapy, decompensated events occurred in 52, 33, and 3 of controls, non-responders, and SVR patients. Odds ratios for ascites, encephalopathy, and oesophageal bleeding in treated patients significantly decreased as compared with controls. Annualized incidence of death was 2.34, 1.91, and 0 per 1000 patient-years, respectively, in controls, non-responders, and SVR patients. Survival curves showed early separation of SVR patients from both non-responders and controls at approximately 6 months.
Conclusions: In decompensated cirrhotics, HCV clearance by therapy is life-saving and reduces disease progression.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2006.08.020 | DOI Listing |
Viruses
December 2024
Department of Translational Medicine, Università del Piemonte Orientale, 28100 Novara, Italy.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant risk factor for liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Traditionally, the primary prevention strategy for HCV-associated HCC has focused on removing infection through antiviral regimes. Currently, highly effective direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) offer extraordinary success across all patient categories, including cirrhotics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNat Med
January 2025
BioNTech US, Cambridge, MA, USA.
New treatment approaches are warranted for patients with advanced melanoma refractory to immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) or BRAF-targeted therapy. We designed BNT221, a personalized, neoantigen-specific autologous T cell product derived from peripheral blood, and tested this in a 3 + 3 dose-finding study with two dose levels (DLs) in patients with locally advanced or metastatic melanoma, disease progression after ICB, measurable disease (Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors version 1.1) and, where appropriate, BRAF-targeted therapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExpert Rev Anti Infect Ther
January 2025
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele, Milan, Italy.
Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection represents a significant global health burden, particularly due to its extrahepatic immune-mediated manifestations, such as mixed cryoglobulinemia, associated vasculitis (CryoVas), and non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphoma (B-NHL), which pose significant challenges. The advent of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) has changed the therapeutic landscape for HCV-related complications.
Areas Covered: This review explores the evolving epidemiology and management of HCV extrahepatic manifestation and lymphoproliferative disorders in the era of DAAs.
Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes
January 2025
Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle (J.A.D., E.J.S., D.H.A.).
Background: Case-based peer review of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is used by many hospitals for quality improvement and to make decisions regarding physician competency. However, there are no studies testing the reliability or validity of peer review for PCI performance evaluation.
Methods: We recruited interventional cardiologists from 12 Veterans Affairs Health System facilities throughout the United States to provide PCI cases for review.
Front Pharmacol
December 2024
Department of Pharmacy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, China.
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