Page 42 - The Flying Publisher Guide to Hepatitis C Treatment

42 | Hepatitis C Treatment

assessment viral kinetics. Virological end points are surrogate
references for assessing the efficiency of HCV treatments, but
many randomized trials on similar drug classes have established
their value in correctly evaluating the clinical outcome.
However, biochemical and histological improvements can be
attained even in patients who fail to eradicate HCV infection.
Obtaining data on the long-term clinical outcomes in patients
included in previous treatment trials is logistically difficult, due
to relatively high dropout rates and to interferences of re-
treatment regimens. Cumulative meta-analysis may be relevant
for the planning of future clinical trials.

Links

– Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Guidelines
for laboratory testing and result reporting of antibody to
hepatitis C virus. MMWR Recomm Rep 2003;52(RR-3):1-13.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12585742
– World Health Organization. Hepatitis C 2002.
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/hepatitis/Hepc.pdf
– Short guide to Hepatitis C. By Mauss, Berg, Rockstroh,
Sarrazin, Wedemeyer, et al. Flying Publisher 2011, 128 pages,
www.goo.gl/7aTq4