Two Studies Show Advantages of Peginterferon Over Standard Interferon
A pair of studies published on December 7 in The New England Journal of Medicine shows the advantages of peginterferon alfa-2a over standard interferon alfa-2a in the treatment of patients with chronic hepatitis C, a leading cause of liver transplantation.
The investigators examined Pegasys, a once-weekly pegylated form of interferon developed by Hoffmann-La Roche. It is currently under review by the Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of hepatitis C.
Both groups found that once-weekly doses of peginterferon were more effective than regimens of interferon alfa-2a given three times weekly. One study, conducted by Stefan Zeuzem, MD, of Frankfurt, Germany, and colleagues, examined the two kinds of interferon in 531 patients with chronic hepatitis C (2000;343:1666-1672). In the other study, E. Jenny Heathcote, MD, of Toronto Western Hospital and colleagues included a subgroup of patients with chronic hepatitis C who also had cirrhosis or extensive fibrosis (2000;343:1673-1680).
While Dr. Zeuzem and colleagues document the increased likelihood of a response in a group of patients already targeted for therapy, Dr. Heathcote and coauthors broaden the definition of patients who should or could receive therapy, noted an editorial by Daniel F. Schafer, MD, and Michael F. Sorrell, MD, of University of Nebraska Medical Center (000;343:1723-1724).
Researchers believe that polyethelene glycol, or PEG, creates a barrier that shields the interferon alfa-2a molecule from being rapidly degraded by proteases in the body and maintains its ability to consistently suppress the hepatitis C virus over the one-week dosing period, Hoffmann-La Roche said.
For your information:
View the abstract of Dr. Zeuzem's article at
www.nejm.org/content/2000/0343/0023/1666.asp
and that of Dr. Heathcote's article at
www.nejm.org/content/2000/0343/0023/1673.asp.
The editorial is posted at www.nejm.org/content/2000/0343/0023/1723.asp.
Hoffmann-La Roche posts a statement at
www.rocheusa.com/newsroom/current/pr2000120701.html.
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