EASL: Boceprevir Improves Cure Rates for HIV/HCV Coinfection but Beware of Drug Interactions

Adding boceprevir (Victrelis) to pegylated interferon and ribavirin for treatment of chronic hepatitis C in people with HIV substantially increased the likelihood of end-of-treatment response and sustained response 12 weeks after completing therapy, researchers reported at the 47th International Liver Congress (EASL 2012) last week in Barcelona.

Read more:

CROI: HIV Positive People Need Ribavirin for Optimal Treatment of Acute Hepatitis C

HIV positive people acutely infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotypes 2 or 3 benefit from receiving weight-based ribavirin in addition to pegylated interferon, according to study findings presented at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) this month in Seattle.

Read more:

Liver Fibrosis Tests Predict Mortality in HIV/HCV Coinfected Women

More advanced liver fibrosis, as diagnosed by 2 non-invasive biomarker tests, is associated with a higher risk of death for HIV positive women coinfected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to a report in the March 13, 2012, issue of AIDS.

Read more:

CROI: Long-term Tenofovir Promotes HBsAg Decline in HIV/HBV Coinfected People

Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) levels declined steadily in HIV/HBV coinfected patients treated with tenofovir for up to 8 years, especially those with rising CD4 T-cell counts, researchers reported at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) this month in Seattle.

Read more:

CROI: HIV Treatment May Reduce Mother-to-Child Hepatitis C Transmission

Effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV and maintaining a high CD4 T-cell count may decrease the risk of hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission from HIV/HCV coinfected mothers to their babies, according to study findings presented at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) this month in Seattle.

Read more:

Interferon-Based Therapy Reduces Liver Fibrosis Progression in HIV/HCV Coinfected Patients

Interferon-based treatment for chronic hepatitis C helps slow liver disease progression among HIV/HCV coinfected patients as it does for people with hepatitis C alone, according to study findings reported in the January 2012 Journal of Hepatology.

Read more:

CROI: Detectable HIV Raises Risk of Incomplete Hepatitis B Suppression

HIV/HBV coinfected people with detectable HIV viral load and higher baseline HBV viral load were less likely to completely suppress hepatitis B after a year on tenofovir (Viread), but CD4 cell count did not show an effect, researchers reported at the 19th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI 2012) this month in Seattle.

Read more:

Experts Issue Provisional Guidance on New Hepatitis C Drugs for HIV/HCV Coinfected Patients

HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) experts have issued preliminary recommendations for the use of the new HCV protease inhibitors boceprevir (Victrelis) and telaprevir (Incivek) for HIV/HCV coinfected patients. Though not yet FDA-approved for this group, studies to date show that the drugs improve the likelihood of a cure for coinfected as well as HCV monoinfected people.

[Editors' note (2/27/12): the preliminary recommendations have been temporarily withdrawn and removed from the Clinical Infectious Disease advance publication web section due to new data that may influence the guidance] 

Read more: