生物谷报道：Virginia Commonweath大学科学家5月22日表示，单独利用干扰素，或者结合三唑核苷能治愈丙肝——这是导致肝硬化、肝癌的最主要原因之一。
来自VCU医学院的Mitchell Shiffman教授是研究的主要负责人之一，他们在华盛顿举行的第38届消化系统疾病年会上公布了这一结果。VCU是世界范围内40个研究Roche公司生产的干扰素alfa-2a的机构之一。
大约有99%的病人在接受了这一干扰素的治疗，或者结合了三唑核苷之后，在7年时间内都没有再发现病毒的存在。科学家认为这一结果已经可以用“治愈”来描述了，因为丙肝被治愈的标准是在治疗后六个月内血液中未发现丙肝病毒（HCV）存在。
研究基于对病人的长期分析，以确定病毒在治愈的病人体内没有复发。小组研究了997位病人，他们或者单独感染慢性HCV，或者同时感染了HIV。
在使用以上方法成功治疗后，科学家对病人进行了每年一次的HCV血清检测，平均年限为4.1年（从0.4到7年不等）。997人中，有989人没有检测出HCV，其余8人平均在大约2年后检测出HCV。研究同时发现，这8人在年龄、性别、HCV基因型方面没有共性，且尚不清楚他们属于丙肝复发还是再次感染HCV。
根据美国疾病控制中心（CDC）数据，大约有410万美国人感染了丙肝，其中320万感染了慢性丙肝。而每年新增感染人数从1980年代的平均240000人减少到了2004年的26000人。CDC预计，到2010年，丙肝在美国造成的死亡将达到每年38000人，超过HIV造成的死亡人数。
英文原文：
Published: 13:39 EST, May 22, 2007
Researcher Announced Cure for Hepatitis C
The use of peginterferon alone, or in combination with ribavirin, points to a cure for hepatitis C, the leading cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer and the need for liver transplant, a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher said today.
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Mitchell Shiffman, M.D., professor in the VCU School of Medicine, and chief of hepatology and medical director of the Liver Transplant Program at the Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center, is one of the lead investigators in the study, which was presented at the 38th annual Digestive Disease Week conference in Washington, D.C. VCU was among about 40 sites worldwide studying pegylated interferon alfa-2a, manufactured by Roche Inc.
Nearly all -- 99 percent – of patients with hepatitis C who were treated successfully with peginterferon alone, or in combination with ribavirin, had no detectable virus up to seven years later. Researchers say this data validates the use of the word "cure" when describing hepatitis C treatment as successful treatment is defined as having undetectable hepatitis C virus in the blood six months following treatment.
"We at VCU are encouraged by this data because it is rare in the treatment of life-threatening viral diseases that we can tell patients they may be cured," Shiffman said. "In hepatitis C today, we are able to help some patients achieve an outcome that effectively enables them to put their disease behind them."
The results are based on a long-term follow-up study designed to determine if the virus re-emerges in patients who have achieved treatment success. The study reviewed 997 patients, either mono-infected with chronic HCV or co-infected HCV and HIV, who achieved a sustained viral response (SVR) following treatment with either Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a) monotherapy or combination therapy with Pegasys and ribavirin.
After successful treatment, researchers monitored serum levels of HCV once a year for an average of 4.1 years (range 0.4 to 7 years). Of the 997 patients, 989 maintained undetectable levels of HCV. The remaining eight patients tested positive for HCV at an average of two years following treatment completion. The study found that these eight patients exhibited no consistency in age, gender or HCV genotype, and it has not yet been determined if these patients experienced a relapse or if they were re-infected with HCV.
Hepatitis C is a blood-borne infectious disease of the liver and a leading cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer and the need for liver transplants. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 4.1 million Americans have been infected with hepatitis C, and 3.2 million are chronically infected. The number of new infections per year declined from an average of 240,000 in the 1980s to about 26,000 in 2004, the latest year for which statistics are available. The CDC estimates the number of hepatitis C-related deaths could increase to 38,000 annually by the year 2010, surpassing annual HIV/AIDS deaths.
Source: Virginia Commonwealth University
