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Antiviral therapy in non-responders, relapsers and special populations | 43
3. Antiviral therapy in non-responders,
relapsers and special populations
Liana Gheorghe and Speranṭa Iacob
More than 50% of genotype 1 and 20% of genotypes 2/3 HCV-
infected patients fail to achieve a sustained virologic response
(SVR) when treated with PegIFN/RBV. Non-sustained responders
to PegIFN/RBV comprise a heterogeneous group of patients
(non-responders, on-therapy and post-therapy relapsers)
defined by the time point when they achieved or not
undetectable viremia (see chapter 1). For these patients other
therapeutic options are clearly needed.
How to manage genotype 1 non-responders and
relapsers ?
Therapy selection: monitoring vs. retreatment
When considering further therapy for genotype 1 patients who
fail to achieve a sustained viral response (SVR) during the initial
standard-of-care (SoC) therapy, two important issues should be
considered:
– the exact classification of the initial response pattern (as
the response to subsequent therapy is strongly influenced
by the initial response),
