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Treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV) with sofosbuvir-based direct acting antivirals (DAAs) was recently found as effective and well-tolerated in elderly patients as it was in younger patients in previous development trials.
“Historically, older patients have been underrepresented in studies evaluating the efficacy and safety of HCV treatment due to poor tolerability and suboptimal response to interferon-based regimens,” the researchers wrote.
Satapathy and colleagues conducted a retrospective review of patients 70 years and older to determine their course while receiving a DAA treatment without interferon.
They identified 25 patients treated at a hospital-based liver disease clinic with mean age 73.2 years (range 70 to 81 years). The majority of patients were female (76%) and African-American (56%), with all having HCV genotype 1.
All but one patient (96%) achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) at completion of treatment. The one patient not responsive to treatment, with SIM/SOF, had previously failed interferon-based therapies and had received liver transplant, presenting recurrent GT1a infection with allograft cirrhosis.
The finding that DAA treatments are effective and well tolerated in elderly patients is particularly important, Satapathy and colleagues noted, given the increased risk for cirrhosis and hepatocelluar carcinoma with advanced age, and the likelihood of longer durations of HCV infection that are associated with fibrosis progression and related complications.
Read complete article here: https://www.specialtypharmacytimes.com/news/direct-acting-antivirals-effective-in-older-patients-with-hepatitis-c