Treatment Response and Tolerability in Elderly Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: Subgroup Analysis in ReGIT-J Study

Abstract

Treatment Response and Tolerability in Elderly Patients with Chronic Hepatitis C: Subgroup Analysis in ReGIT-J Study Background: We previously reported response-guided therapy (RGT) of peginterferon (Peg-IFN)-2a with or without ribavirin (RBV) for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) of genotype 1b (a multicenter randomized trial, ReGIT-J study). Here, we performed a subgroup analysis of the ReGIT-J study according to age. Methods: The sustained virological response (SVR) rate and the treatment discontinuation rate were calculated in both groups. Results: In the elderly group (65 years, n=54), the SVR rate in the RGT group was higher than in the non- RGT group (50% [9/18] vs 36% [8/22], P=0.385). Similarly, in the control group (<65 years, n=132), the SVR rate in the RGT group was higher than in the non-RGT group (65% [31/48] vs 50% [27/54], P=0.138). In the elderly group, the discontinuation rate in the RGT group was almost significantly lower than in the non-RGT group (0% [0/18] vs 18% [4/22], P=0.057), whereas in the control group, the difference between the groups was not significant (4% [2/48] vs 13% [7/54], P=0.118). Furthermore, in all subgroup analyses, there was no significant difference between the elderly and control groups in terms of treatment response. Conclusion: Our proposed RGT was well tolerated in elderly CHC patients treated with Peg-IFN-2a with or without RBV.