The “real-world” efficacy and safety of DAAs for the treatment of HCV patients throughout Japan

Excerpt

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) causes persistent infections in humans, leading in the long term to chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). An estimated 180 million individuals are infected worldwide, with around 1.5 million in Japan [1, 2]. Although viral eradication was difficult with conventional interferon-/ribavirin-based therapy, the recent development of novel, direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) has revolutionized the treatment of HCV infection. Among the DAAs for genotype-1 (Gt-1) HCV, the interferon-free regimen of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir therapy appears to be one of the most outstanding, because of its very high efficacy. Clinical trials using this regimen have achieved significant favorable responses all over the world and, in particular, the sustained viral response (SVR) rate of ledipasvir/sofosbuvir therapy reached 100% in a phase III clinical trial targeting Gt-1 patients conducted in Japan [3]. …