Real-World Effectiveness of Simeprevir-containing Regimens Among Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C Virus: The SONET Study.

BACKGROUND: The Simeprevir ObservatioNal Effectiveness across practice seTtings (SONET) study evaluated the real-world effectiveness of simeprevir-based treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. METHODS: The SONET study was a phase 4, prospective, observational, United States-based study enrolling patients ≥18 years of age with chronic genotype 1 HCV infection. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients who achieved sustained virologic response 12 weeks after the end of treatment (SVR12), defined as HCV ribonucleic acid undetectable ≥12 weeks after the end of all HCV treatments. RESULTS: Of 315 patients (intent-to-treat [ITT] population), 275 (87.3%) completed the study. Overall, 291 were treated with simeprevir + sofosbuvir, 17 with simeprevir + sofosbuvir + ribavirin, and 7 with simeprevir + peginterferon + ribavirin. The majority of patients were male (63.2%) and white (60.6%); median age was 58 years, 71.7% had genotype/subtype 1a, and 39.4% had cirrhosis. The SVR12 was achieved by 81.2% (255 of 314) of ITT patients (analysis excluded 1 patient who completed the study but was missing SVR12 data); 2 had viral breakthrough and 18 had viral relapse. The SVR12 was achieved by 92.4% (255 of 276) of patients in the modified ITT (mITT) population, which excluded patients who discontinued treatment for nonvirologic reasons before the SVR12 time point or were missing SVR12 assessment data. Among mITT patients, higher SVR12 rates were associated with factors including age ≥65 years, non-Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, and employment status, but not genotype/subtype nor presence of cirrhosis. Simeprevir-based treatment was well tolerated; no serious adverse events were considered related to simeprevir. CONCLUSIONS: In the real-world setting, simeprevir + sofosbuvir treatment was common and 92% of mITT patients achieved SVR12. Simeprevir-based treatment was effective and well tolerated in this cohort, including patients with cirrhosis.

Current Management of Hepatitis C Virus Infection.

At least 3 million people in the United States are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Unfortunately, 75% of infected individuals remain undiagnosed and untreated, putting them at risk of advanced liver disease. Because the majority of infected individuals are baby boomers, many societies and organizations recommend HCV screening of persons born between 1945 and 1965.

Barrett's esophagus and ß-carotene therapy: symptomatic improvement in GERD and enhanced HSP70 expression in esophageal mucosa.

INTRODUCTION: Epidemiological studies suggest a protective role for ß-carotene with several malignancies. Esophageal adenocarcinoma frequently arises from Barrett's esophagus (BE). We postulated that ß-carotene therapy maybe protective in BE. MATERIALS AND METHOD: We conducted a prospective study in which 25 mg of ß-carotene was administered daily for six-months to six patients. Each patient underwent upper endoscopy before and after therapy and multiple mucosal biopsies were obtained. Additionally, patients completed a gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms questionnaire before and after therapy and severity score was calculated. To study the effect of ß-carotene at molecular level, tissue extracts of the esophageal mucosal biopsy were subjected to assessment of heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70). RESULTS: A significant (p<0.05) reduction in mean GERD symptoms severity score from 7.0±2.4 to 2.7±1.7 following ß-carotene therapy was noted. Measurement of Barrett's segment also revealed a significant reduction in mean length after therapy. In fact, two patients had complete disappearance of intestinal metaplasia. Furthermore, marked enhancement of HSP70 expression was demonstrated in biopsy specimens from Barrett's epithelium in four cases that were tested. CONCLUSIONS: Long- term ß-carotene therapy realizes amelioration of GERD symptoms along with restitution of the histological and molecular changes in esophageal mucosa of patients with BE, associated with concurrent increase in mucosal HSP70 expression.