This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Expert: SVR does not equate to a cure in HCV
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
BARCELONA — In this video perspective from the International Liver Congress 2016, Ronald Koretz, MD, Emeritus professor of medicine at University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, discusses results of a systematic review that asks: Does sustained virologic response represent a cure for hepatitis C virus infection?
Koretz performed a systematic review using more than 100 natural history studies of people who achieved SVR with HCV therapy and what happened to them over time, with a goal of differentiating between SVR and a cure for the infection.
“SVR is only a blood test and the real question is whether they make a difference in subsequential development of end stage liver disease, such as decompensated cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma,” Koretz told HCV Next.
Koretz explains simply that no, SVR is not the same a cure and there is data lacking in long-term results of patients in trials that reach SVR.
“There are no randomized clinical trials that look at this question. All trials look at simply the first month or year of follow-up and no differences have been seen,” Koretz said.
He concluded: “We simply cannot equate an SVR with a cure.”
Disclosure: Koretz reports no relevant financial disclosures.