Background: Pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN) alpha2b is currently used as a once weekly injection in combination with ribavirin for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.
Aim: To test whether twice half-dose weekly administration may improve the virological response in difficult-to-treat hepatitis C virus-1 patients.
Methods: Thirty patients were treated with 1.5 microg/kg of PEG-IFN alpha2b given once weekly for 48 weeks (group A) and were compared with 30 patients treated with the same dose of PEG-IFN alpha2b divided in twice weekly doses of 0.75 microg/kg for the initial 4 weeks (group B). All patients were hepatitis C virus-1 positive and received weight-based ribavirin (800-1400 mg/daily).
Results: Weekly twice half-dose administration of PEG-IFN alpha2b for the first 4 weeks was associated with lower rates of biochemical and virological response at all time points compared with a once weekly schedule, and with significantly higher rates of in-therapy breakthrough leading to significantly lower rates of end of therapy response (week 48). The rate of sustained virological response was of 56.7% in group A and 36.7% in group B.
Conclusions: Weekly twice half-dose administration of PEG-IFN alpha2b is not superior to the standard once weekly schedule, and might be less efficacious.