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Natural interferon-beta plus ribavirin therapy led to sustained virological response after seven unsuccessful courses of anti-viral treatment in a chronic hepatitis C patient

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Abstract

We describe a patient infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 who failed to respond to interferon with or without ribavirin seven times but who then achieved sustained virological response by the combination of interferon-beta plus ribavirin treatment for 48 weeks. He did not respond to stronger treatment such as prolonged peginterferon plus ribavirin treatment for 87 weeks. It might be rare to treat a patient with interferon 8 times considering the cost and time, since patients failing interferon treatment several times are regarded to be refractory to interferon. It is possible that the difference in biological effects between interferon-alfa and interferon-beta might have resulted in a different outcome in our patient. Interferon-beta plus ribavirin therapy might be one of the treatment options for certain patients chronically infected with HCV who do not respond to standard care treatment.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Prof. Fumio Imazeki and Dr. Toshio Yajima for valuable discussions.

Conflict of interest

Osamu Yokosuka received a research Grants from Chugai Pharmaceutical, Bayer, MSD, Daiichi-Sankyo, and Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma. Tatsuo Kanda, Shingo Nakamoto, Makoto Arai, Tatsuo Miyamura, Shuang Wu, and Keiichi Fujiwara declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology and Nephrology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, 1-8-1 Inohana, Chuo-ku, Chiba, 260-8677, Japan

    Tatsuo Kanda, Shingo Nakamoto, Makoto Arai, Tatsuo Miyamura, Shuang Wu, Keiichi Fujiwara & Osamu Yokosuka

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  1. Tatsuo Kanda
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  2. Shingo Nakamoto
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  3. Makoto Arai
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  4. Tatsuo Miyamura
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  5. Shuang Wu
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  6. Keiichi Fujiwara
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  7. Osamu Yokosuka
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Correspondence to Tatsuo Kanda.

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Kanda, T., Nakamoto, S., Arai, M. et al. Natural interferon-beta plus ribavirin therapy led to sustained virological response after seven unsuccessful courses of anti-viral treatment in a chronic hepatitis C patient. Clin J Gastroenterol 6, 160–163 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-013-0366-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12328-013-0366-1

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