An exciting development for HIV-positive patients who are co-infected with hepatitis C just recently occurred: Two new medications, boceprevir and telaprevir, were recommended to be approved by the FDA for treating hepatitis C.
While this is a new development, several uncertainties remain for those co-infected with HIV and HCV (an acronym for the hepatitis C virus).
Both boceprevir and telaprevir are HCV protease inhibitors, and while they are potent, interaction with anti-HIV medications is cause for concern.
Both drugs were approved based on studies done on mono-infected patients; that is, patients who were infected with hepatitis C only.
In those who were just infected with hepatitis C, adding boceprevir and telaprevir to the standard 48-week HCV treatment raised cure rates from the normal average of 40 to 45 percent to a much higher 65 to 80 percent.
This is a remarkable jump.
However, for those who also have HIV, the picture isn't quite as clear.
Normally, the cure rates using the standard program are lower in co-infected patients.
Tests on both of these drugs in co-infected patients are ongoing and won't be complete until mid- to late-2012.
Preliminary results for one of the drugs-telaprevir--are promising though.
70 percent of those co-infected who received telaprevir in addition to the normal HCV treatment had undetectable HCV levels Results are still inconclusive, of course, since more testing is yet to be done.
The side effects of boceprevir and telaprevir, which are normally rash and anemia, could be more pronounced in co-infected HIV-HCV patients; further testing will conclude whether or not these side effects occur and their severity in the co-infected patients.
Drug interactivity must also be looked at.
There may be interactions between the antiretroviral medication that HIV-positive patients take and HCV medications-especially telaprevir.
The new drugs have renewed interest in getting HIV-positive people tested for HCV in the immediate future so treatment can commence quickly.
HIV and HCV have things in common in that they're both spread through unprotected sexual contact, the sharing of needles, and other such exchanges of bodily fluids.
The co-infected have a possible additional avenue to explore for their HCV treatments; however, any such talk of an effective cure is still years away.
After all, more testing needs to be done on these drugs if they have any chance at winning FDA approval.
Researchers may be on the cusp of finding something that can cure HCV in patients who are co-infected with HIV.
While this is a new development, several uncertainties remain for those co-infected with HIV and HCV (an acronym for the hepatitis C virus).
Both boceprevir and telaprevir are HCV protease inhibitors, and while they are potent, interaction with anti-HIV medications is cause for concern.
Both drugs were approved based on studies done on mono-infected patients; that is, patients who were infected with hepatitis C only.
In those who were just infected with hepatitis C, adding boceprevir and telaprevir to the standard 48-week HCV treatment raised cure rates from the normal average of 40 to 45 percent to a much higher 65 to 80 percent.
This is a remarkable jump.
However, for those who also have HIV, the picture isn't quite as clear.
Normally, the cure rates using the standard program are lower in co-infected patients.
Tests on both of these drugs in co-infected patients are ongoing and won't be complete until mid- to late-2012.
Preliminary results for one of the drugs-telaprevir--are promising though.
70 percent of those co-infected who received telaprevir in addition to the normal HCV treatment had undetectable HCV levels Results are still inconclusive, of course, since more testing is yet to be done.
The side effects of boceprevir and telaprevir, which are normally rash and anemia, could be more pronounced in co-infected HIV-HCV patients; further testing will conclude whether or not these side effects occur and their severity in the co-infected patients.
Drug interactivity must also be looked at.
There may be interactions between the antiretroviral medication that HIV-positive patients take and HCV medications-especially telaprevir.
The new drugs have renewed interest in getting HIV-positive people tested for HCV in the immediate future so treatment can commence quickly.
HIV and HCV have things in common in that they're both spread through unprotected sexual contact, the sharing of needles, and other such exchanges of bodily fluids.
The co-infected have a possible additional avenue to explore for their HCV treatments; however, any such talk of an effective cure is still years away.
After all, more testing needs to be done on these drugs if they have any chance at winning FDA approval.
Researchers may be on the cusp of finding something that can cure HCV in patients who are co-infected with HIV.
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