Title of article :
Pegylated Alpha Interferons: An Unresolved Clash of the Titans?
Author/Authors :
Duarte-Rojo, Andres Liver Centre, Toronto Western Hospital - University Health Network - University of Toronto - Toronto - Ontario, Canada , Jay Feld, Jordan Liver Centre, Toronto Western Hospital - University Health Network - University of Toronto - Toronto - Ontario, Canada , Jenny Heathcote, Elizabeth Liver Centre, Toronto Western Hospital - University Health Network - University of Toronto - Toronto - Ontario, Canada
Abstract :
Physicians treating chronic hepatitis C (CHC)
have witnessed a fascinating evolution of
therapies, from the initial experimental alpha
interferon (IFN- α) in non-A/non-B hepatitis, to the
new STAT-C era of specific targeted antivirals. Over
these past 25 years, two events stand out as major
breakthroughs in therapy for CHC: the addition of
the antiviral agent ribavirin (RBV), which allowed
doubling of the sustained virologic response (SVR)
from ~20 to ~40%; and the alpha peginterferon
(PEG-IFN-α) which further improved the rate of
SVR to 55% by lengthening the half-life of IFN-α
(1). Nonetheless, IFN-α (whether pegylated or not)
remains until today a constant in the armamentarium
against CHC, and it may not disappear even in the
STAT-C era.
Keywords :
CHC , RBV , SVR , experimental , Unresolved
Journal title :
Astroparticle Physics
