Use of high-dose interferon in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

High-dose interferon therapy is defined as any treatment regimen that provides more than 3 million Units (MU) of interferon three times weekly (TIW), or more than 9 MU on a weekly basis. Such treatment could be achieved with either a fixed dose of interferon administered daily (QD) or TIW, an induction regimen in which doses greater than 3 MU QD are administered for several weeks to months followed by a reduction in the dose or dosing frequency, or by escalation in the interferon dose. Each of these high-dose regimens appears to increase end-of-treatment response. Unfortunately, sustained response and virologic "cure" following treatment with high-dose interferon appear no better than what could be achieved with standard-dose interferon therapy. Whether sustained response can be improved by utilizing ribavirin in combination with high-dose interferon remains to be determined.