ribavirin
Bethesda, MD (Sept. 1, 2009) -- Sexual impairment is common among men with chronic hepatitis C undergoing antiviral therapy, according to a new study in Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute.
DURHAM, N.C. -- Researchers have identified the first genetic marker that predicts response to hepatitis C treatments, and a single letter of DNA code appears to make a huge difference.
DALLAS -- Aug. 6, 2009 -- The three treatment combinations for clearing the most common form of the hepatitis C virus work equally well with similar side effects, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers and their colleagues in 13 other institutions have found.
Results of a long-awaited study of 3,070 American adults at Johns Hopkins and 118 other U.S. medical centers show that treatment with either of the two standard antiviral drug therapies is safe and offers the best way for people infected with hepatitis C to prevent liver scarring, organ failure and death.
ST. LOUIS -- In a multi-center trial led by a Saint Louis University researcher, investigators found that a new combination therapy of daily consensus interferon and ribavirin helps some hepatitis C patients who have not responded to previous treatment.
NEW YORK (June 4, 2009) -- For patients with the most common form of hepatitis C, the addition of a hepatitis C-specific protease inhibitor called telaprevir to the current standard therapy can significantly improve the chances of being cured, and it does it in half the time of standard therapy alone.
A ground-breaking Canada-wide clinical trial led by Dr. Katherine Borden, at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer (IRIC) of the Université de Montréal, has shown that a common anti-viral drug, ribavirin, can be beneficial in the treatment of cancer patients.
At least 200 million individuals are currently infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) worldwide. Approximately 30%-50% of patients respond to interferon/ribavirin combination therapy. Response to interferon therapy depends mainly on viral and host genetic factors. The HCV is continually mutating which allows the virus to evade the immune system and overcome interferon treatment.
