Hepatitis C

Direct-acting antivirals can cure hepatitis C. But in patients who had also had liver cancer, the drugs appear to result in an alarmingly high rate of cancer recurrence.

A recent study in the United Kingdom looked at the 6-month outcomes of those with hepatitis C cirrhosis on antiviral treatment.

Investigational RG-101 could shorten HCV treatment with direct-acting antivirals to four weeks, researchers report in a phase 2 study.

Work being done to treat and cure hepatitis C today could make it almost a non-issue for future generations, thanks to groups like the World Health Organization (WHO) and others putting the focus on parts of the world that need help in this area the most.

As hepatitis C becomes a largely curable condition, work is being done to ensure that people around the world get the same level of treatment no matter where they live. That effort is being supported thanks to new guidelines from the World Health Organization (WHO).

A combination of sofosbuvir, velpatasvir, and GS-9857 has been shown safe and effective in treating hepatitis C genotype 1 infection, researchers from the Texas Liver Institute reported.

With the advent of direct acting antivirals for hepatitis C, having the virus is no barrier to becoming a liver donor. A study showed that because of the drugs, HCV positive patients who get HCV positive livers do just fine.

Men who are HIV positive and who have sex with other men (MSM) are experiencing an epidemic of sexually transmitted hepatitis C virus (HCV).

A new direct acting antiviral combo for hepatitis c infection is more effective than sofosbuvir and peg-interferon plus ribavirin.

Direct acting antivirals have been miracle drugs for many, but a Spanish study found they can make things worse in patients with advanced liver disease.

Cirrhosis is not a new condition in the medical community, but researchers are looking at regions where the condition may be more common and how changes in policy regarding alcohol could help prevent more cases of the condition in the future.

While many forms of hepatitis C are now nearing curability, there are some genotypes which are harder to treat and some patient populations proving harder to reach. Research is being done on several fronts to address both issues.

The number of deaths associated with the hepatitis C virus climbed well above those of several other infectious diseases over a 10-year period ending in 2013, according to a recent government study.

A report from the NAS suggests that the elimination of hepatitis B and C as a public health problem is possible, but that time and considerable resources will need to be devoted to stopping the transmission of the disease and treating all those who are infected.

Researchers in France have devised a way to reproduce liver fibrogenesis related to HCV infection, or exposure to ethanol of lipids.

A federal jury in California has ordered Gilead Sciences to pay Merck $200 million in damages for infringing upon patents related to compounds used in Sovaldi, the blockbuster hepatitis C drug.

While hepatitis C is a largely treatable condition one of the biggest challenges remains identifying patients who may have the condition without even realizing it. As a result work is being done to improve testing rates to better treat this population.

The FDA has granted Roche expanded use of the company’s RNA test for hepatitis, which will allow the assay to be used as a diagnostic tool to confirm active infection in certain populations, the Swiss pharmaceutical company announced.

The field of gastroenterology is as wide as the the amount of the body that it covers. Because of this there are certain challenges doctors face whether they treat the entire gastrointestinal system or just specific parts.

Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia PA has gotten the okay to start transplanting livers and kidneys from HIV-positive donors into patients with HIV. The transplant team expects to do such a surgery within the next few weeks.

The hepatitis C virus has contributed to an increased rate in liver cancer and related deaths during a time when overall cancer deaths continue to decline, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Tattoo aficionados who appreciate the creative license behind professional inking can now take solace in the potential health benefits of tattoos.

Researchers in China reported that combination treatment with daclatasvir and asunaprevir produced a sustained virologic response in 91% of patients after 24 weeks of treatment.

Hepatitis C treatment will now be made available to all US military veterans who are infected with the virus as a result of recent expanded federal funding.

In the first global study of its kind, researchers put a number on the amount of people who are infected with both the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C.

With hundreds of thousands of people in the United States undergoing dialysis the field of nephrology is working hard to keep these patients as healthy as possible in hopes of getting them to the point of kidney transplant.

The US Food and Drug Administration announced recently that labeling for the hepatitis C drug Olysio has been updated to reflect that higher plasma exposures have been recorded in patients of East Asian ancestry.

HCVGuidelines.org recently posted several updates related to the approval of Zepatier, including guidance on the role of testing patients for NS5A resistance-associated variants (RAVs) before they begin therapy with Zepatier to determine the dose and duration of the drug.

The Food and Drug Administration has given two drug companies approval to expand the use of their hepatitis C regimens to include treating patients with different types of advanced liver disease, and those coinfected with HIV.

A high consumption of cholesterol may lead to an increased risk for liver-related death and transplants among women who are infected with hepatitis C, according to a recent university study.