What are the odds of being cured of Hep C?

[fullof?]

I keep hearing about the odds being better than ever before of being cured by hep C treatment. So what are the real odds for someone living with Hep C undergoing treatment and coming out hte other side cured?

[Tim Horn]

fullof:

There's really no standard answer to this important question -- it all depends on your personal circumstances. Which HCV genotype do you have? Have you been treated for HCV before? If so, were you a relapser, partial responder or null responder? Has you IL28B genotype been tested? What is your HCV viral load?

ALL of these need to be considered when determining a person's "odds" of being cured of hep C.

However, let's just assume we're talking about someone -- yourself perhaps? -- who has genotype 1 HCV, has never been treated before and doesn't know their IL28B genotype status. In short, with the use of pegylated interferon and ribavirin alone -- the standard-of-care for many years -- cure rates are around 40 percent. With the addition of a protease inhibitor (e.g., Incivicek or Victrelis), the cure rate is generally over 70 percent. So, basically, seven of ten people with genotype 1 HCV who are starting therapy for the first time, and are combining a protease inhibitor with pegylated interferon and ribavirin, can anticipate being cured after roughly a year of treatment.

But again -- "odds" are funny business. They depend highly on individual circumstances. And we're not just talking biological traits, but also behavioral factors, notably a person's commitment to taking the prescribed medications, exactly as prescribed.

Tim Horn

[charlieoboy]

my friend is genotype 3. does he have same odds of being cured?

[Tim Horn]

Charlie:

No -- the odds of curing hepatitis C are significantly higher with either genotype 2 or 3. Provided that treatment drops your friend's HCV viral load to undetectable within four weeks, he has a 70 to 95 percent chance of clearing the virus after six months of therapy. What's more, these relatively good odds are achieved using pegylated interferon and ribavirin alone; neither of the approved protease inhibitors are used to treatment genotype 2 or 3 hepatitis C infection.

Tim Horn

[charlieoboy]

Great news. Thanks for the quick reply.

[truckman]

hi truckman again is it possible to live with hep c and not undergo treatment?

[Tim Horn]

Truck:

No, not all people living with hepatitis C need treatment. In fact, many living with the virus will go on to live normal lifespans without requiring treatment.

Figuring out if you should begin treatment for hepatitis C and determining when you should start it are complicated issues. This is because hep C treatment can cause some pretty serious side effects... along with the fact that there is no guarantee that treatment will be completely effective. So at the present time -- at least until we have treatment regimens that cure the vast majority of people, with as few side effects as possible -- people with hepatitis C must weigh the risks of therapy against the benefits in deciding if and when to start treatment.

Have a look at this review of when treatment is recommended. As you'll see, one test that really plays a major role in deciding whether or not treatment should be started is the liver biopsy, which you can learn more about here. And according to your comment in this thread, it sounds as if you don't have much damage to your liver and may not need treatment.

All the best,

Tim Horn