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SAN DIEGO — A Latino population had a significantly lower sustained virologic response to the standard treatment for hepatitis C virus, compared with a non-Latino population, suggesting that targeted treatments based on race and genetics may be keys to better management of chronic hepatitis C, according to data from a prospective study presented at the annual Digestive Disease Week.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is common in the Latino population, and data from previous studies have shown that Latinos have a more rapid progression to chronic HCV and cirrhosis, Dr. Maribel Rodriguez-Torres said in an interview.
Latinos are the largest minority population in the United States, so this represents a potentially huge number of patients with severe liver disease, she noted.
Dr. Rodriguez-Torres of the Fundacion de Investigacion de Diego in San Juan, P.R., and her colleagues compared pooled data in a multicenter, open-label study of 269 Latino adults with HCV and 300 non-Latino adults with HCV. Patients in both groups received the standard HCV treatment of 180 mcg of peginterferon α−2a (Pegasys) weekly and 1000–1200 mg of ribavirin daily based on body weight. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., manufacturer of Pegasys and the Copegus formulation of ribavirin, sponsored the study.
After 6 months, 49.3% of the non-Latino patients had achieved a sustained virologic response (SVR), compared with 33.5% of the Latinos, a statistically significant difference. The almost 16% lower SVR suggests that more studies are needed to determine how best to treat HCV in the Latino population, the investigators noted.
“The standard treatment is capable of curing 40%–51% of people with HCV, but we want to have the highest possible cure rates for all populations,” said Dr. John Vierling of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, who moderated a discussion of the findings.
“We need to optimize the treatment we have,” Dr. Rodriguez-Torres commented. Data from ongoing studies suggest that using higher doses or perhaps a longer duration of the standard therapy in treatment-resistant patients with higher viral loads and higher body mass indexes may improve outcomes, she explained.
“The most important next step is to make Latinos a priority in clinical research for HCV,” she added.
Dr. Rodriguez-Torres disclosed that he had received funding from Hoffmann-La Roche.
SAN DIEGO — A Latino population had a significantly lower sustained virologic response to the standard treatment for hepatitis C virus, compared with a non-Latino population, suggesting that targeted treatments based on race and genetics may be keys to better management of chronic hepatitis C, according to data from a prospective study presented at the annual Digestive Disease Week.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is common in the Latino population, and data from previous studies have shown that Latinos have a more rapid progression to chronic HCV and cirrhosis, Dr. Maribel Rodriguez-Torres said in an interview.
Latinos are the largest minority population in the United States, so this represents a potentially huge number of patients with severe liver disease, she noted.
Dr. Rodriguez-Torres of the Fundacion de Investigacion de Diego in San Juan, P.R., and her colleagues compared pooled data in a multicenter, open-label study of 269 Latino adults with HCV and 300 non-Latino adults with HCV. Patients in both groups received the standard HCV treatment of 180 mcg of peginterferon α−2a (Pegasys) weekly and 1000–1200 mg of ribavirin daily based on body weight. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., manufacturer of Pegasys and the Copegus formulation of ribavirin, sponsored the study.
After 6 months, 49.3% of the non-Latino patients had achieved a sustained virologic response (SVR), compared with 33.5% of the Latinos, a statistically significant difference. The almost 16% lower SVR suggests that more studies are needed to determine how best to treat HCV in the Latino population, the investigators noted.
“The standard treatment is capable of curing 40%–51% of people with HCV, but we want to have the highest possible cure rates for all populations,” said Dr. John Vierling of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, who moderated a discussion of the findings.
“We need to optimize the treatment we have,” Dr. Rodriguez-Torres commented. Data from ongoing studies suggest that using higher doses or perhaps a longer duration of the standard therapy in treatment-resistant patients with higher viral loads and higher body mass indexes may improve outcomes, she explained.
“The most important next step is to make Latinos a priority in clinical research for HCV,” she added.
Dr. Rodriguez-Torres disclosed that he had received funding from Hoffmann-La Roche.
SAN DIEGO — A Latino population had a significantly lower sustained virologic response to the standard treatment for hepatitis C virus, compared with a non-Latino population, suggesting that targeted treatments based on race and genetics may be keys to better management of chronic hepatitis C, according to data from a prospective study presented at the annual Digestive Disease Week.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is common in the Latino population, and data from previous studies have shown that Latinos have a more rapid progression to chronic HCV and cirrhosis, Dr. Maribel Rodriguez-Torres said in an interview.
Latinos are the largest minority population in the United States, so this represents a potentially huge number of patients with severe liver disease, she noted.
Dr. Rodriguez-Torres of the Fundacion de Investigacion de Diego in San Juan, P.R., and her colleagues compared pooled data in a multicenter, open-label study of 269 Latino adults with HCV and 300 non-Latino adults with HCV. Patients in both groups received the standard HCV treatment of 180 mcg of peginterferon α−2a (Pegasys) weekly and 1000–1200 mg of ribavirin daily based on body weight. Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., manufacturer of Pegasys and the Copegus formulation of ribavirin, sponsored the study.
After 6 months, 49.3% of the non-Latino patients had achieved a sustained virologic response (SVR), compared with 33.5% of the Latinos, a statistically significant difference. The almost 16% lower SVR suggests that more studies are needed to determine how best to treat HCV in the Latino population, the investigators noted.
“The standard treatment is capable of curing 40%–51% of people with HCV, but we want to have the highest possible cure rates for all populations,” said Dr. John Vierling of Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, who moderated a discussion of the findings.
“We need to optimize the treatment we have,” Dr. Rodriguez-Torres commented. Data from ongoing studies suggest that using higher doses or perhaps a longer duration of the standard therapy in treatment-resistant patients with higher viral loads and higher body mass indexes may improve outcomes, she explained.
“The most important next step is to make Latinos a priority in clinical research for HCV,” she added.
Dr. Rodriguez-Torres disclosed that he had received funding from Hoffmann-La Roche.