SAN FRANCISCO – Combination treatment with ledipasvir/sofosbuvir is highly effective for treatment-naive hepatitis C virus genotype 1 patients in routine medical practices, according to findings from a large observational cohort study.
Of 4,365 treatment-naive genotype 1 hepatitis C virus (GT1 HCV)–infected patients identified from the Veterans Affairs Clinical Case Registries who initiated 8 or 12 weeks of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (LDV/SOF) with or without ribavirin, more than 90% had undetectable levels of HCV RNA at the end of treatment, Dr. Lisa I. Backus of the VA Palo Alto (Calif.) Health Care System reported at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
Sustained virologic response rates were “amazingly high” in this large, real-world cohort, Dr. Backus said, explaining that, historically, the veteran population has had substantially lower response rates than those seen in clinical trials.
“To our surprise and great delight, the SVR rates we’re seeing … nearly match those seen in clinical trials,” she said.
In this interview at the meeting, she discusses her findings and some of the clinical implications, including the possibility that 8 weeks of treatment may be more cost-effective than 12 weeks in non-cirrhotic treatment-naive HCV GT1 patients.