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Chasing the ‘Holy Grail’of Ever-Shortening Regimens
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As new approvals continue to emerge for the treatment of hepatitis C virus, researchers continue to hope for the ideal drug or combination thereof that will allow for a condensed treatment timeline and, hopefully, improved patient adherence.
Recent data from C-SWIFT, presented at the 2014 Liver Meeting in Boston, dampened those hopes for many when the proposed 4-week regimen fell short of expectations, but still others saw the study as a necessary stepping stone. In this month’s issue, HCV Next discusses the Holy Grail of a shortened regimen with experts in the field.
While many agreed it is still a viable goal for research, experts like William Sievert, MD, brought up valid concerns, such as the feasibility of multiple pills in a combination regimen, both with adherence and cost. Or the possibility that a small adherence hiccup could more greatly affect a 4-week regimen than what is now seen in a treatment three times that long.
Additionally, HCV Next experts discussed transmission of HCV: concerns of health care providers, the return of unsafe sex, injection drug users and prisons as well as the challenges faced in the developing world.
In this month’s Pediatric HCV, HCV Next Editorial Board member, Daniel H. Leung, MD, details the questions he most often faces when counseling the parents of an child or adolescent with HCV. Hopefully, these will assist you when interacting with these sensitive patients and their circumstances.
Visit Healio.com/HCV and let us know your thoughts on whether the Holy Grail is within reach for HCV treatment regimens and use our comments section to share your own pediatric HCV counseling tips.
The Editors
HCV Next