Is interferon-beta an alternative treatment for chronic hepatitis C?

长期的丙肝(CHC ) 的治疗仍然是远非最佳的，特别地为不对有加 ribavirin 的 Interferon-alpha (IFNalpha ) 的标准联合治疗作出回应的那些潜水艇人口。尽管在一些情况中更高的剂量或更长的治疗经期的使用可能是有效的，这些途径通常与不利事件的更高的发生被联系，它也可以在耐心的依从导致减小或要求药退却。IFNbeta 能为对待 CHC 病人代表一种有趣的选择。关于在 CHC 的 IFNbeta 功效的争论数据存在，是许多结果与病人的小队源自预研项目的主要原因。然而，有希望的结果在没能对 IFNalpha 作出回应的病人的一些亚群被获得了。另外， IFNbeta 的好 toler 能力代表这药的一个重要优点。在控制临床的试用的退学学生的率，以及对剂量减小或治疗中止的需要是很低的。它可能值得与病人，不是合格容忍的标准治疗的一个更大的队在使随机化的研究估计 IFNbeta 正 ribavirin 的价值，并且为非应答者。

The treatment of chronic hepatitis C （CHC） is still far from optimal, particularly for those subpopulations that do not respond to the standard combination therapy with Interferon-α （IFNα） plus ribavirin. Although in some cases the use of higher doses or longer treatment periods may be effective, these approaches are generally associated with a higher incidence of adverse events, which may either lead to a reduction in patient compliance or require drug withdrawal. IFNβ could represent an interesting alternative for treating CHC patients. Controversial data about IFNβ efficacy in CHC exist, the main reason being that many results stem from pilot studies with small cohorts of patients. However, promising results have been obtained in some subgroups of patients that fail to respond to IFNα. Additionally, the good tolerability of IFNβ represents an important advantage of the drug. The rates of dropouts in controlled clinical trials, as well as the need for dose reductions or treatment discontinuation are very low. It might be worth assessing the value of IFNβ plus ribavirin in randomized studies with a larger cohort of patients, not eligible or not tolerating standard therapy, and for non-responders.