Gastroenterology
Volume 138, Issue 1 , Pages 116-122 , January 2010

Peginterferon Alfa-2a Plus Ribavirin Is More Effective Than Peginterferon Alfa-2b Plus Ribavirin for Treating Chronic Hepatitis C Virus Infection

Presented in part as an oral communication at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver; April 23–27, 2008; Milan, Italy.

  • Antonio Ascione

      Affiliations

    • Department of Gastroenterology, Liver Unit, Cardarelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy
    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests Address requests for reprints to: Antonio Ascione, MD, Department of Medicine, Center for Liver Disease, Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Via Manzoni, 220-80126 Napoli, Italy. fax: (39) 081-7147081
    • ,
  • Massimo De Luca

      Affiliations

    • Department of Gastroenterology, Liver Unit, Cardarelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy
    • ,
  • Maria Teresa Tartaglione

      Affiliations

    • Department of Gastroenterology, Liver Unit, Cardarelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy
    • ,
  • Filippo Lampasi

      Affiliations

    • Department of Gastroenterology, Liver Unit, Cardarelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy
    • ,
  • Giovan Giuseppe Di Costanzo

      Affiliations

    • Department of Gastroenterology, Liver Unit, Cardarelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy
    • ,
  • Alfonso Galeota Lanza

      Affiliations

    • Department of Gastroenterology, Liver Unit, Cardarelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy
    • ,
  • Francesco Paolo Picciotto

      Affiliations

    • Department of Gastroenterology, Liver Unit, Cardarelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy
    • ,
  • Giuseppina Marino–Marsilia

      Affiliations

    • Department of Gastroenterology, Pathology Unit, Cardarelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy
    • ,
  • Luca Fontanella

      Affiliations

    • Department of Medicine, Centre for Liver Disease, Fatebenefratelli Hospital, Napoli, Italy
    • ,
  • Gioacchino Leandro

      Affiliations

    • Gastroenterology Unit, IRCSS de Bellis, Castellana Grotte, Italy

Received 23 March 2009 ,Accepted 15 October 2009.

References 

  1. Manns MP, McHutchison JG, Gordon SC, et al. Peginterferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin compared with interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin for initial treatment of chronic hepatitis C: a randomised trial. Lancet. 2001;358:958–965
  2. Fried MW, Shiffman ML, Reddy KR, et al. Peginterferon alfa-2a plus ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C virus infection. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:975–982
  3. Zeuzem S, Pawlotsky J-M, Lukasiewicz E, et al. DITTO-HCV Study Group International, multicenter, randomized, controlled study comparing dynamically individualized versus standard treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C. J Hepatol. 2005;43:250–257
  4. Hadziyannis SJ, Sette H, Morgan TR, et al. PEGASYS International Study Group Peginterferon-alpha2a and ribavirin combination therapy in chronic hepatitis C: a randomized study of treatment duration and ribavirin dose. Ann Intern Med. 2004;140:346–355
  5. Sporea I, Danila M, Sirli R, et al. Comparative study concerning the efficacy of Peg-IFN alpha-2a versus Peg-IFN alpha-2b on the early virological response (EVR) in patients with chronic viral C hepatitis. J Gastrointest Liver Dis. 2006;15:125–130
  6. Yenice N, Mehtap O, Gumrah M, et al. The efficacy of pegylated interferon alpha 2a or 2b plus ribavirin in chronic hepatitis C patients. Turk J Gastroenterol. 2006;17:94–98
  7. Scheuer P, Standish S, Dhillon H. Scoring of chronic hepatitis. Clin Liver Dis. 2002;6:335–347
  8. McHutchison JG, Manns M, Patel K, et al. Adherence to combination therapy enhances sustained response in genotype-1-infected patients with chronic hepatitis C. Gastroenterology. 2002;123:1061–1069
  9. Bruno R, Sacchi P, Ciappina V, et al. Viral dynamics and pharmacokinetics of peginterferon alfa-2a and peginterferon alfa-2b in naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C: a randomized, controlled study. Antivir Ther. 2004;9:491–497
  10. Bruno R, Sacchi P, Scagnolari C, et al. Pharmacodynamic of peginterferon alfa-2a and peginterferon alfa-2b in interferon-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis C: a randomized, controlled study. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2007;26:360–376
  11. Silva M, Poo J, Wagner F, et al. A randomised trial to compare the pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, and antiviral effects of peginterferon alfa-2b and peginterferon alfa-2a in patients with chronic hepatitis C (COMPARE). J Hepatol. 2006;45:204–213
  12. Alberti A, Colombo M, Craxì A, et al for the PROBE Study Group. HCV-1 subtypes and response to pegylated interferon plus ribavirin therapy. Presented at: 12th International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis and Liver Disease; July 1–5, 2006; Paris, France.
  13. Backus LI, Boothroyd DB, Phillips BR, et al. Predictors of response of U.S. Veterans to treatment for the hepatitis C virus. Hepatology. 2007;46:37–47
  14. McHutchison JG, Lawitz EJ, Shiffman ML, et al. Peginterferon alfa-2b or alfa-2a with ribavirin for treatment of hepatitis C infection. N Engl J Med. 2009;361:580–593

 Conflicts of interest The authors disclose the following: Dr Ascione has received lecture fees from Bayer Healthcare, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead, Grifols, Novartis, Schering-Plough, Roche, and Roche Diagnostics. The remaining authors discloses no conflicts.

PII: S0016-5085(09)01811-3

doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2009.10.005

Gastroenterology
Volume 138, Issue 1 , Pages 116-122 , January 2010

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