New Treatment for Hepatitis C Studied

A new drug combination looks promising in improving the cure rate for hepatitis C, a chronic disease that affects 4 million Americans.

"This combination therapy appears to be twice as effective in clearing the virus from the blood than any other method," said Dr. Reem Ghalib, director of the hepatitis program at Baylor College of Medicine and The Methodist Hospital.

The hepatitis C virus can take a very mild form, producing few symptoms, or be life-threatening. Up to 10,000 deaths per year in the United States are attributed to the disease. The virus is spread primarily through contact with the blood of an infected person.

For those hepatitis C patients who develop severe liver disease, treatment options have been limited. For many, a liver transplant has been the only life-saving measure.

The new treatment combines two drugs – pegylated interferon alfa 2-b and ribavirin. Baylor researchers are participating in clinical trials to determine the effectiveness and safety of the drug combination. Initial results are encouraging.

"Our results show it clears the virus from the blood in 61 percent of patients and decreases the severity of inflammation in the liver in the majority of patients," said Dr. Ghalib, also an assistant professor of medicine and surgery in the Michael E. DeBakey department of surgery and medical director of liver transplant at Baylor.

"Once a patient shows a sustained response – the virus gone for at least six months after treatment stops – the chance of it coming back is very small."

The combination therapy is given for 48 weeks. Weekly injections of pegylated interferon alfa 2-b are given by the patient, and the ribavirin is administered by pill daily.

The standard treatment for Hepatitis C has been interferon – a manufactured version of a natural substance that slows down the virus. The pegylated version of interferon enables the drug to stay in the body longer, requiring less frequent injections.

The therapy is not appropriate for those whose disease has progressed too far, abuse alcohol or drugs, or suffer from severe uncontrolled psychiatric illness.

The most common side effects of the drug combination include flu-like symptoms, fever, fatigue, nausea, headache, poor appetite, and anxiety or depression.

The hepatitis program at Baylor and Methodist was established in June 2000 as a specialized center for patients with hepatitis B and hepatitis C. The patients are closely monitored by a team of expert physicians in liver disease, along with a medical staff specially trained in this area.

---

©2006 Texas Medical Center

---

E-Mail: tmcinfo@texmedctr.tmc.edu
URL: http://www.tmc.edu/tmcnews/02_15_02/page_08.html