Sato K, Yanagisawa M, Hashizume H, Yamazaki Y, Horiguchi N, Kakizaki S, Mori M. Extended therapy duration for therapy-refractory hepatitis C patients with genotype 2. World J Gastroenterol 2013; 19(34): 5754-5758 [PMID: 24039372 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i34.5754]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Ken Sato, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan. satoken@showa.gunma-u.ac.jp
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
Article-Type of This Article
Case Report
Open-Access Policy of This Article
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/
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 14, 2013; 19(34): 5754-5758 Published online Sep 14, 2013. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v19.i34.5754
Extended therapy duration for therapy-refractory hepatitis C patients with genotype 2
Ken Sato, Masatoshi Yanagisawa, Hiroaki Hashizume, Yuichi Yamazaki, Norio Horiguchi, Satoru Kakizaki, Masatomo Mori
Ken Sato, Masatoshi Yanagisawa, Hiroaki Hashizume, Yuichi Yamazaki, Norio Horiguchi, Satoru Kakizaki, Masatomo Mori, Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan
Author contributions: Sato K designed the research, wrote the paper, and analyzed the data; Yanagisawa M collected the data; Hashizume H, Yamazaki Y, Horiguchi N and Kakizaki S analyzed the data; Mori M gave final approval of the version to be published.
Supported by Grants from Merck Sharp & Dohme, Tokyo, Japan; and Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan to Mori M
Correspondence to: Ken Sato, MD, PhD, Department of Medicine and Molecular Science, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, 3-39-22 Showa-machi, Maebashi, Gunma 371-8511, Japan. satoken@showa.gunma-u.ac.jp
Telephone: +81-272-208127 Fax: +81-272-208137
Received: April 30, 2013 Revised: June 30, 2013 Accepted: July 4, 2013 Published online: September 14, 2013
Core Tip
Core tip: The optimal therapy for 48-wk peginterferon-α-2b/ribavirin therapy-intractable hepatitis C patients with genotype 2 and high viral loads remains unknown. Our cases are notable in that 72-wk peginterferon-α-2a/ribavirin therapy may have been effective for these highly intractable cases. Additionally, the rebound phenomenon of serum transaminase after the 48-wk peginterferon-α-2b/ribavirin therapy and the resultant lower viral load compared to that before the 48-wk peginterferon-α-2b/ribavirin therapy might have influenced the treatment outcome. Thus, our cases highlight the importance of the results of the previous 48-wk peginterferon-α-2b/ribavirin therapy in the indication and timing of the administration of 72-wk peginterferon-α-2a/ribavirin in highly intractable cases.
