ORLANDO, Fla. — An orally administered, interferon-free regimen with a treat-all approach for patients with chronic hepatitis C may be more beneficial and more cost effective than interferon-based triple therapy, according to data presented at Digestive Disease Week.
Researchers used a decision analytic Markov model to compare four methods of treatment for chronic HCV genotype 1: Triple therapy with pegylated interferon, ribavirin and a direct-acting antiviral (DAA) with (method 1) or without biopsy guidance (method 2); and an orally administered, interferon-free regimen with (method 3) or without biopsy guidance (method 4). The methods that incorporated biopsy began treatment at fibrosis stage F2 – F4, with repeated biopsies every 5 years until patients were aged 70 years.
More »