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Hep C Recurrence After Treatment

According to a May 2009 report for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, more than 3 million Americans suffer from chronic hepatitis C, a viral inflammation of the liver. Treatment helps some patients, but not all, and the disease can recur.

  1. Diagnosis

    • Symptoms, if any, are often vague. Dr. Melissa Palmer writes in "Hepatitis & Liver Disease" that liver function tests may be elevated, but a liver biopsy is the diagnostic "gold standard."

    Treatment

    • Hepatitis C treatment usually consists of pegylated interferon, alone or in combination with ribavarin. Treatment side effects, however, can be debilitating.

    Response

    • Gene types, or "genotypes" 2 and 3 are more responsive to treatment. Other predictors of good response include East Asian or Caucasian race, low viral load and female gender. In August 2009, Dr. David Goldstein and colleagues identified a new indicator, a "C" instead of a "T" in a segment of DNA near the IL28B gene.

    Recurrence

    • In successful treatment, levels of detectable virus in the blood drop to zero. Recurrence typically occurs within the first three months. According to the Mayo Clinic, hepatitis C recurrence is also common after a liver transplant.

    Retreatment

    • Emmet Keeffe, M.D. reports on HCVAdvocate.org that retreatment can include higher doses, longer duration or different types of medication. People who have relapsed are more likely to respond to retreatment than people who did not respond in the first place.

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