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Rash, anemia among adverse events seen in HCV patients taking DAA
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SAN DIEGO — Premature treatment discontinuation because of the high rate of adverse events is a significant issue with direct-acting antivirals among hepatitis C patients in clinical practice, a speaker said here.
“Our SVR [sustained virologic response] rates have improved with the advent of direct-acting antivirals [DAA], but there’s still a lot of room to go,” Phillip K. Henderson, DO, clinical instructor of medicine with the University of South Alabama, said at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting.
Researchers analyzed patients treated for hepatitis C genotype 1 using DAA, pegylated interferon and ribavirin in the single-center, retrospective review. Preliminary numbers showed discontinuation of all therapy because of adverse events in 19% of patients, while discontinuation of only telaprevir or boceprevir occurred in 3% of patients.
Adverse events reported included anemia, which developed in 85% of patients, and rash in 24%. In patients treated with telaprevir, 23% developed rash, while 0% of patients treated with boceprevir developed rash.
Fifty-one percent of patients reported fatigue, 28% reported nausea, 19% reported psychiatric changes, 12% reported vomiting, 12% reported diarrhea and 10% reported dysgeusia. Hepatic decompensation also was seen in 3% of patients.
“We’ve getting better SVR rates than we did with the older therapies,” Henderson said. “However, adverse events have been additive because we’re adding medications to the old standardized therapies.”
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
For more information:
Sbahi H. #217. Tolerability and Efficacy of Direct-acting Antiviral Therapy for Hepatitis C in Clinical Practice. Presented at: the 2013 American College of Gastroenterology Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct. 11-16, San Diego.