Being Free of Hepatitis C Six Months After
Treatment May Mean You're Cured <br>Six-Month Blood Test
Accurately Predicts Outcome <br>By Roxanne Nelson, RN
<br>WebMD Medical News <br>Reviewed by Dr. Michael Smith
<br>July 5, 2000 -- Good news for people with hepatitis C
who respond to <br>treatment. If you're free of the
hepatitis C virus six months after treatment <br>ends, the
chances are you will remain that way and may even be
considered <br>cured. <br>French researchers have found that
people who respond to hepatitis C <br>treatment and have
no evidence of the virus in the blood six months
after <br>their therapy is stopped are likely to have a
complete recovery. <br>Previous studies have shown that
about 40% of patients remain free of disease <br>six
months after their treatment has ended. However, the
researchers wanted <br>to take this information a step
further and find out whether a negative test <br>for
hepatitis C at six months after treatment could accurately
predict a <br>complete recovery. <br>Hepatitis C is a
liver disease caused by a virus that typically is
spread by <br>contact with the blood of an infected
person, although there are many cases <br>of people
getting hepatitis C without any known contact with
someone with the <br>virus. Despite extensive research,
hepatitis C is still not well understood, <br>and doctors
are doing many studies on the disease to help improve
treatment. <br>The virus will clear up on its own, without
any type of medication, in about <br>15% of the
adults who are infected, says Bennet Cecil, MD, a
<br>gastroenterologist and corporate medical director of Hepatitis C
Treatment <br>Centers in Kentucky. "The other 85% stay
infected unless they are treated <br>with antiviral
therapy." Cecil was not involved in the study. <br>But more
than 80% of people infected each year get what is
known as chronic <br>hepatitis C, which means that the
person's liver enzymes have remained <br>elevated for more
than six months. In its chronic form, hepatitis C can
<br>sometimes progress to more severe liver disease, such as
cirrhosis. <br>Led by Stanislas Pol, MD, of the Unité
d'Hépatologie et INSERM, the research <br>team examined
information from 45 patients who had been treated for
hepatitis <br>C. All of them had received interferon alfa
and ribavirin, two drugs which <br>are commonly used
to treat this virus. <br>Six months after their
treatment ended, all of them were free of hepatitis C,
<br>according to blood tests. After 12 months, all of them were
still negative <br>except for one patient. <br>"This
suggests that if they don't relapse within six months,
they probably <br>are not going to," says Ramsey
Cheung, MD, an assistant professor of medicine <br>at
Stanford University School of Medicine in California.
Cheung was not <br>involved in the study. <br>The
researchers believe that their study shows that the virus is
unlikely to <br>return in the majority of hepatitis C
patients who respond to the treatment. <br>"If they're
free of the virus after six months, they're very
likely to stay <br>that way indefinitely," says Cecil.
<br>Cheung says the study would be more interesting if the
patients were followed <br>for a longer period of time.
Finding out if these patients were still free of
<br>disease in two years or even longer would give more
information, he says. <br>For more information, visit our
Diseases and Conditions Hepatitis C page or <br>read our
QuickFacts on the disease. <br> <br>Vital Information:
<br><br>* Hepatitis C is a liver disease that can be
difficult to treat. It can <br>become a chronic disease in
80% of infected patients. <br>* Often, people are
treated for the virus but relapse soon after the
<br>medication is discontinued. <br>* New research shows that if
people test negative for hepatitis C six <br>months
after they have finished treatment, they are likely to
be rid of the <br>disease for good. <br><br> <br>©
2000 Healtheon/WebMD. All rights reserved.