MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Shyamasundaran Kottilil MBBS, PhD
Division of Infectious Diseases, Institute of Human Virology
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Laboratory of Immunoregulation
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland
Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Dr. Kottilil: During
treatment with interferon-based therapies, hepatitis C viral load
levels were clinically useful as on-therapy markers of treatment
outcome. However, the standard-of-care for HCV treatment has recently
evolved from interferon-based regimens to short-duration, all-oral,
direct-acting antiviral (DAA)
therapies. Therefore, it is important that we re-evaluate the utility
of HCV viral loads during DAA regimens in guiding clinical
decision-making.
We found that Hepatitis C viral loads on treatment and at end of
treatment were not predictive of treatment success versus relapse with
DAA therapy. Contrary to our experience with interferon-containing
regimens, low levels of quantifiable HCV RNA at end of treatment did not
preclude treatment success.
Read more... Labels: monitoring DAA treatment response, viral load testing