Optimal Duration of Therapy

Tremendous progress has been made in developing effective therapies for hepatitis C. The process began in the mid-1980s with the use of standard interferon for 6 months. The duration of therapy was extended to 12 months. Next, the addition of ribavirin was found to substantially improve rates of sustained virologic response (SVR). More recently, the use of pegylated interferons has largely supplanted standard interferons. More recent efforts have focused on refining the treatment strategy and determining optimal dosing and duration of both peginterferons and ribavirin, leading to the current situation where it is now possible to tailor therapy to the individual patient based on their HCV genotype and their early response during therapy