Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis C with Interferon-α: Sustained Absence of Hepatitis C Virus RNA from Serum after Four Courses of Therapy

Abstract

A patient with chronic hepatitis type C, confirmed by the detection of hepatitis C virus RNA (HCV RNA) in the serum and by histological examination of the liver biopsy specimen, was treated with four courses of interferon-α (IFN-α). For the first three courses of IFN-α the patient's serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT) level normalized during the administration of IFN-α but rose again after its cessation; similarly, HCV RNA was absent from the serum by the end of each course of treatment but could be detected once again after treatment stopped. The fourth course of IFN-α therapy, however, produced a sustained normalization of the ALT level and sustained absence of HCV RNA from the serum for 20 months after the end of treatment. This case suggests that patients with the potential for an eventual complete response to IFN-α therapy may show a normalization of serum ALT levels during IFN-α administration and the absence of HCV RNA in the serum by the end of each course of treatment (even if that particular course of treatment does not produce a sustained response).