CHICAGO – Two old workhorses in the treatment of hepatitis C are being put out to pasture – interferon and ribavirin.
Newer, less toxic oral regimens can cure more patients with fewer side effects, Dr. Bruce R. Bacon said in this interview at the annual Digestive Disease Week.
Ribavirin is helpful in some patients, but not needed in all. As for interferon: "I used interferon for 30 years," Dr. Bacon said. "I’m glad it’s gone."
Well, almost gone. Some of the oral therapies have yet to be approved, and cost is an issue.
Dr. Bacon is the James F. King Endowed Chair in Gastroenterology and a professor of medicine at Saint Louis University. He was not involved in the study. He reported financial associations with AbbVie, Gilead Sciences, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals.
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