Hep C

[das6504]

Thanks guys for all of the info.  Is it true that treatment is only effective in 50% of patients?

[Bill1954]

It depends largely on what HCV genotype, or strain you have. Genotype 1 will respond to the current treatment regimen in around 45-50% of time; whereas genotypes 2 and 3 have significantly higher rates of response.

Have you had a liver biopsy yet? This typically determines the urgency to undergo treatment. If you currently have little to no damage, a case could be made to postpone treatment in favor of better options down the road.

There are other drugs currently in late phase clinical trial that will hopefully increase the efficacy of the current drugs, pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

By the way, you can respond to your original post if you like by clicking on the green ‘post comment’ button at the bottom of the page; this will help keep all your info in one spot.

Good luck—

Bill

[desrt]

Aprox. 50% for genotype 1 patients, slightly better if you're geno 4, around 80% for geno 3, and slightly better than 80% for geno 2 with current treatments. New drugs will probably be added to the mix starting next year that will bring the odds up to geno 2/3 probability for 1s and possibly 4s