24 v 48-week treatment

[kimakay1950]

I think by putting this out there all they are doing is using us to prove points for the company. I would love to do just 24 weeks, but if this monster comes back I would probably kill someone (not literally). I have settled in that I would be doing tx until June and they threw that out there and said most doctors had started using this stopping point. I'm not stopping until I'm supposed to stop. I have walked through hell and back (spray liquid skin on my chest today) and I don't want to do this again - I want rid of it and if it takes 48 weeks then so be it.

[alice]

but still, this really, really rubs me the wrong way because the ONLY mention of this potentially huge benefit is in a stinking footnote to a table in the prescribing information!

oops... i should've posted the footnote:
"Treatment-naïve patients with cirrhosis who have undetectable HCV-RNA at weeks 4 and 12 of INCIVEK combination treatment may benefit from an additional 36 weeks of peginterferon alfa and ribavirin (48 weeks total) [see Clinical Studies (14.2)]."

So this little footnote puts the ball in our court. We get to decide whether to do 24 or 48 weeks. I also suppose it's worth mentioning that they make no specific recommendations for cirrhotics who are not tx-naive. It appears as if they lumped tx-experienced patients into groups depending on their previous tx response (i.e., relapsers and partial/null responder) without accounting for their liver status.

God, could this be a little more complicated, please!!

[greyrocker]

God, could this be a little more complicated, please!!

Clear as mud!

 
GR

[banarep]

Patients who have previously been treated with interferon-based therapy and did not respond or had only a partial response will take the full 48-week course of treatment. Vertex also recommends that patients with cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) consider the 48-week treatment course, even if they have undetectable HCV levels at 4 and 12 weeks.

http://www.aidsbeacon.com/news/2011/05/23/fda-approves-vertexs-new-drug-incivek-telaprevir-for-treatment-of-hepatitis-c/

looks like the say 48 weeks.

[kimakay1950]

Patients who have previously been treated with interferon-based therapy and did not respond or had only a partial response will take the full 48-week course of treatment. Vertex also recommends that patients with cirrhosis (scarring of the liver) consider the 48-week treatment course, even if they have undetectable HCV levels at 4 and 12 weeks.

http://www.aidsbeacon.com/news/2011/05/23/fda-approves-vertexs-new-drug-incivek-telaprevir-for-treatment-of-hepatitis-c/

looks like the say 48 weeks.

I started reading up on this and noticed this was in May 2011 and the other one that said 24 weeks was in September 2011. My doc said that they had altered their treatment courses and recommendations as they have gone along.