TY  - JOUR
A1  - Pawlotsky, Jean-Michel
A1  - Feld, Jordan J.
A1  - Zeuzem, Stefan
A1  - Hoofnagle, Jay H.
T1  - From non-A, non-B hepatitis to hepatitis C virus cure
T2  - Journal of hepatology
N2  - The hepatitis C virus (HCV) was discovered in the late 1980s. Interferon (IFN)-α was proposed as an antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C at about the same time. Successive improvements in IFN-α-based therapy (dose finding, pegylation, addition of ribavirin) increased the rates of sustained virologic response, i.e. the rates of curing HCV infection. These rates were further improved by adding the first available direct-acting antiviral (DAA) drugs to the combination of pegylated IFN-α and ribavirin. An IFN-free era finally started in 2014, yielding rates of sustained virologic response over 90% in patients treated for 8 to 24 weeks with all-oral regimens. Major challenges however remain in implementation of these new treatment strategies, not only in low- to middle-income countries, but also in high-income countries where the price of these therapies is still prohibitive. Elimination of HCV infection through treatment in certain areas is possible but raises major public health issues.
KW  - Hepatitis
KW  - Discovery
KW  - Direct-acting antivirals
KW  - Interferon
KW  - Ribavirin
Y1  - 2015
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/77205
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-772053
SN  - 0168-8278
VL  - 62
IS  - 1, Supplement
SP  - S87
EP  - S99
PB  - Elsevier
CY  - Amsterdam
ER  -