Duration of treatment for Hepatitis C

Lay Summary: Duration of treatment of Hepatitis C with interferon or interferon/ribavirin is usually 24 weeks and generally not tought to be beneficial beyond 48 weeks. Please consult the references for more specific recommendations.

Stephanos J. Hadziyannis, Hoel Sette, Jr., Timothy R. Morgan, Vijayan Balan, Moises Diago, Patrick Marcellin, Giuliano Ramadori, Henry Bodenheimer, Jr., David Bernstein, Mario Rizzetto, Stefan Zeuzem, Paul J. Pockros, Amy Lin, Andrew M. Ackrill, AND for the PEGASYS International Study Group  Peginterferon-2a and Ribavirin Combination Therapy in Chronic Hepatitis C
A Randomized Study of Treatment Duration and Ribavirin Dose  Annals 2004 140: 346-355

B. R. Schackman, P. A. Teixeira, G. Weitzman, A. I. Mushlin, and I. M. Jacobson
Quality-of-Life Tradeoffs for Hepatitis C Treatment: Do Patients and Providers Agree?
Med Decis Making, April 1, 2008; 28(2): 233 - 242.

J S Cross, C G Antoniades, and P M Harrison
Current and future management of chronic hepatitis C infection
Postgrad. Med. J., April 1, 2008; 84(990): 172 - 176.

Gerlach T, Buggisch P, Goeser T, Rasenack J, Pape GR, Schmidt WE, Kallinowski B, Klinker H, Spengler U, Martus P, Alshuth U, Zeuzem S. et al, xtended treatment duration for hepatitis C virus type 1: comparing 48 versus 72 weeks of peginterferon-alfa-2a plus ribavirin.Gastroenterology. 2006 Apr;130(4):1086-97.