First-line therapy with daily versus thrice-weekly interferon alfa-2b plus ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C.

OBJECTIVES: Combination therapy with interferon and ribavirin is the most effective treatment for chronic hepatitis C today. Before pegylated interferons became available, higher and more frequent doses of interferon were expected to be more effective than the standard regimen of three million units thrice weekly. In fact, daily dosing is still proposed for non-pegylated interferon. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy and safety of daily versus thrice-weekly interferon alfa-2b in combination with ribavirin as first-line treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

METHODS: A total of 116 treatment-naive patients were randomised to receive either interferon alfa-2b three million units daily or thrice-weekly in combination with ribavirin for 24 weeks. Patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 who were HCV-RNA negative at 24 weeks continued treatment with thrice-weekly interferon plus ribavirin for another 24 weeks. Sustained virological response was defined as an undetectable HCV-RNA level 24 weeks after treatment was completed (end of follow-up).

RESULTS: In an intention-to-treat analysis, HCV-RNA was undetectable at the end of treatment in 71% and 74% of patients treated with daily and thrice-weekly interferon, respectively. At the end of follow-up, HCV-RNA was undetectable in 47% and 57% of patients treated with daily and thrice-weekly interferon, respectively. Sustained virological response rates were almost twice as high in patients with genotypes 2 and 3 as in patients with genotype 1 but were not different between treatment groups.

CONCLUSIONS: This study could not show any difference between daily and thrice-weekly standard interferon plus ribavirin in achieving end-of-treatment and sustained virological responses in chronic hepatitis C.