Prospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Apr 7, 2018; 24(13): 1478-1485
Published online Apr 7, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i13.1478
Hepatocellular carcinoma or interferon-based therapy history attenuates sofosbuvir/ribavirin for Japanese genotype 2 hepatitis C virus
Masayoshi Yada, Masayuki Miyazaki, Kosuke Tanaka, Akihide Masumoto, Kenta Motomura
Masayoshi Yada, Masayuki Miyazaki, Kosuke Tanaka, Akihide Masumoto, Kenta Motomura, Department of Hepatology, Iizuka Hospital, Iizuka, Fukuoka 820-8505, Japan
Author contributions: Yada M and Motomura K wrote the paper; Yada M, Miyazaki M, Tanaka K, and Motomura K analyzed the data; Masumoto A supervised writing of the paper; all authors contributed to the manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: The study protocol conformed to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki, as reflected in a priori approval by the Ethics Committee of Iizuka Hospital (Approve No. 26282).
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was obtained from all patients.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have no disclosures to report.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Correspondence to: Masayoshi Yada, MD, PhD, Doctor, Department of Hepatology, Iizuka Hospital, 3-83 Yoshio-machi, Iizuka, Fukuoka 820-8505, Japan. myadah1@aih-net.com
Telephone: +81-948-223800 Fax: +81-948-295744
Received: February 5, 2018
Peer-review started: February 5, 2018
First decision: February 26, 2018
Revised: February 26, 2018
Accepted: March 7, 2018
Article in press: March 7, 2018
Published online: April 7, 2018
Abstract
AIM

To investigate the real-world efficacy and safety of sofosbuvir/ribavirin (SOF/RBV) therapy for Japanese patients with genotype 2 hepatitis C virus (GT2-HCV).

METHODS

A total of 182 patients with GT2-HCV infection who received SOF/RBV therapy for 12 wk at our hospital were enrolled. The patients comprised 122 men and 60 women (age range: 17-84 years; mean age ± SD: 60.1 ± 12.1 years). Relationships between virological response and clinical data were examined by logistic regression analyses.

RESULTS

The proportions of patients with liver cirrhosis and history of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were 29.0% and 17.3%, respectively. The proportion of patients with prior interferon (IFN)-based therapy was 25.6%. SOF/RBV therapy rapidly decreased HCV RNA levels. Several patients required RBV dose reduction because of anemia or fatigue. Four patients discontinued the therapy. The rates of sustained virological response at 12 wk after the end of treatment were 87.9% (intention to treat: 160/182) and 94.1% (per protocol: 159/169). Multivariate analyses showed that history of HCC or IFN-based therapy independently reduced the efficacy of SOF/RBV therapy.

CONCLUSION

SOF/RBV therapy for GT2-HCV is safe, highly tolerated, and effective. History of HCC or IFN-based therapy independently reduces the efficacy of this treatment.

Keywords: Sofosbuvir, Ribavirin, Genotype 2, Hepatitis C virus, Interferon-based therapy, Hepatocellular carcinoma

Core tip: The real-world efficacy of sofosbuvir/ribavirin therapy for genotype 2 hepatitis C virus infection in Japan is high. Sofosbuvir/ribavirin therapy is safe and highly tolerated. History of hepatocellular carcinoma or interferon-based therapy independently reduces the efficacy of sofosbuvir/ribavirin therapy. Progressive liver fibrosis may attenuate the antiviral effect of sofosbuvir/ribavirin therapy.