Efficacy and safety of peginterferon alpha-2a/ribavirin in treatment-naive Cameroonian patients with chronic hepatitis C

✍ Scribed by Richard Njouom; Michèle Tagni Sartre; Isabelle Timba; Eric Nerrienet; Patrice Tchendjou; Christophe Pasquier; Dominique Rousset

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2008
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 100 KB
• Volume: 80
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0146-6615
• DOI: 10.1002/jmv.21319

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Data were examined from a day‐to‐day clinical practice in Yaounde, Cameroon to evaluate the efficacy and safety of peginterferon alfa‐2a and ribavirin in treatment‐naive Cameroonian patients with chronic hepatitis C. Ninety adults with chronic hepatitis C (mean age, 53 ± 8 years; 79% males; 37.8% genotype 1; 23.3% genotype 2; and 38.9% genotype 4) were given at least 12 weeks of combination therapy between February 2003 and August 2007. Of these, 54 completed the treatment and the 24‐week follow up. Subsequently, 18 continued treatment and 18 (20%) discontinued the treatment, 6 (6.7%) due to adverse effects. An intention‐to‐treat analysis showed that 38 (52.8%) had an end‐of‐treatment virologic response and 34 (47.2%) had a sustained virologic response. Sustained virologic response were significantly higher among patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 2 (83.4%) than in those with genotype 1 (31%) or genotype 4 (42.3%) (P < 0.05). Non HCV‐2 genotype, pretreatment fibrosis score >2, HCV RNA level >8.0 × 10^5^ IU/ml and a non‐virologic response at 12 weeks of treatment were associated with poor sustained virologic response (P < 0.05). Thus, HCV can be treated in a Sub‐Saharan African country. It indicates that Cameroonian HCV‐1 and ‐4 patients have a poorer sustained virologic response than the published results for Western and Middle‐East countries. Virus subtype may influence the treatment outcome, since there is a great genetic diversity within Cameroonian HCV‐1 and ‐4 genotypes. J. Med. Virol. 80:2079–2085, 2008. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.