TY  - JOUR
T1  - NEw genetic discoveries and treatment for hepatitis c
AU  - Pacanowski M, Amur S, Zineh I
Y1  - 2012/05/09
N1  - 10.1001/jama.2012.3516
JO  - JAMA
SP  - 1921
EP  - 1922
VL  - 307
IS  - 18
N2  - 
Treatment of chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is a prototype for personalized medicine. Combination therapy with peginterferon alfa plus ribavirin was the standard of care for more than a decade. Greater understanding of the disease and determinants of treatment response have improved sustained virologic response (SVR) rates from less than 10% with interferon alfa in the 1990s to more than 80% with contemporary triple therapy regimens that include direct acting antivirals (DAAs) (Figure). Patient-specific factors such as viral genotype and early on-treatment responses are considered in therapeutic individualization. New approaches to search the human genome for predictors of drug response led to the discovery that single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near the host IL28B gene are among the strongest predictors of response to peginterferon alfa and ribavirin. This Viewpoint discusses the evolution of CHC pharmacogenetics, its real-time incorporation into recent regulatory science evaluations, and its application in future drug development.

SN  - 0098-7484
M3  - doi: 10.1001/jama.2012.3516
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2012.3516
ER  -