Hepatitis C treatment different for Hispanics
Cortlandt ForumMarch 02, 2009
A new study has found evidence that ethnicity may determine how patients respond to treatment for hepatitis C. In an open-label, nonrandomized trial, Hispanic whites did not fare as well as white patients who were not Hispanic.
The study (N Engl J Med. 2009;360:257-267) involved 569 patients, including 269 Hispanics. Each received the standard treatment of pegylated interferon (Pegasus) with ribavirin for 48 weeks and was followed for an additional 24 weeks. The two groups were physically similar at baseline and adhered to treatment at about the same rate, but the Hispanic arm showed a lower rate of sustained virologic response (34% vs. 49%).
“When you factor in all the things that might influence treatment response such as BMI and compliance, the Hispanics still responded much more poorly than their non-Hispanic counterparts,” observed senior author Paul Martin, MD, chief of hepatology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
The study follows a similar trial at the Miller School in 2006 that showed black patients also do not to respond to hepatitis C treatment as well as whites do (Gastroenterology. 2006;131:470-477). Current clinical trials are focusing on adding protease inhibitors, such as telepravir and bocepravir, to the treatment protocol.
No comments:
Post a Comment