Triple therapy with telaprevir: results in hepatitis C virus-genotype 1 infected relapsers and non-responders.

Treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has evolved considerably in the last few years. Combination therapy with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN)-α plus ribavirin (RBV) has been the standard of care (SoC) treatment in the past few years. Several viral and host factors have been associated with treatment failure, including age, male gender, ethnicity, genotype, IL28B genotype, steatosis, obesity and insulin resistance. Several studies have also shown that in patients who fail treatment, several interferon-stimulated genes are upregulated before treatment. Recently, the NS3/4A protease inhibitors telaprevir and boceprevir have been approved and are considered the new SoC therapy in combination with PEG-IFN-α/RBV in HCV genotype 1 treatment-naïve patients, as well as in previously treated patients, with significant improvements in SVR rates. The REALIZE phase III trial with telaprevir in previously treated patients showed SVR rates of 83-88% in prior relapsers, 54-58% in prior partial responders and, 29-33% in prior non-responders.