@article {17429,
	title = {A randomized trial to assess the efficacy of interferon alpha in combination with ribavirin in the treatment of interferon alpha nonresponders with chronic hepatitis C: superior efficacy of high daily dosage of interferon alpha in genotype 1},
	journal = {J Viral HepatJ Viral HepatJ Viral Hepat},
	volume = {10},
	number = {3},
	year = {2003},
	note = {Tassopoulos, N CTsantoulas, DRaptopoulou, MVassiliadis, TKanatakis, SParaskevas, EVafiadis, IAvgerinos, ATzathas, CManolakopoulos, SKetikoglou, IAggelis, PGoritsas, KGiannoulis, GHatzis G, GThomopoulos, KAkriviadis, ESypsa, VHatzakis, AengClinical TrialMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled TrialResearch Support, Non-U.S. Gov{\textquoteright}tEngland2003/05/20 05:00J Viral Hepat. 2003 May;10(3):189-96. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2893.2003.00406.x.},
	month = {May},
	pages = {189-96},
	abstract = {A randomized trial was conducted to assess the efficacy of daily (QD) or thrice weekly (TIW) administration of interferon-alpha (IFN) in high doses in combination with ribavirin (1.0-1.2 g/day) in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) who were nonresponders to previous IFN monotherapy. Interferon was administered as 10 MU IFN (QD or TIW) for 4 weeks, followed by 5 MU IFN (QD or TIW) for 20 weeks, and then by 3 MU IFN (QD or TIW) for 24 weeks. Sustained virological response (SVR) was evaluated in 142 patients who received at least one dose of medication. One-fourth of the patients achieved SVR, 26\% of those treated with IFN QD and 25\% of those treated with IFN TIW (P = 0.85). For genotype 1 patients, SVR rates were 32.4 and 15.8\% for IFN QD and IFN TIW, respectively, whereas for genotype non-1 patients the corresponding SVR rates were 20.6 and 36.4\%, respectively (test of homogeneity: P = 0.031). This finding was further confirmed by multivariate logistic regression analysis where a statistically significant interaction (P = 0.012) was found between treatment and HCV genotype indicating that the IFN QD regimen was superior to IFN TIW among genotype 1 patients whereas, among genotype non-1 patients, the two treatments were similar (odds ratio of SVR in IFN QD vs IFN TIW: 3.33 among genotype 1 patients, 95\% CI: 1.00-11.14). In conclusion, re-treatment of patients not responding to previous IFN monotherapy with a combination of high daily dose of IFN with ribavirin may be beneficial for genotype 1 infected patients.},
	keywords = {Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Antiviral Agents/administration \& dosage/*therapeutic use, Drug Therapy, Combination, Female, Hepacivirus/classification/drug effects/genetics, Hepatitis C, Chronic/*drug therapy/virology, Humans, Interferon alpha-2, Interferon-alpha/administration \& dosage/*therapeutic use, Male, Middle Aged, Recombinant Proteins, Ribavirin/administration \& dosage/*therapeutic use, RNA, Viral/blood, Treatment Outcome},
	isbn = {1352-0504 (Print)1352-0504 (Linking)},
	author = {Tassopoulos, N. C. and Tsantoulas, D. and Raptopoulou, M. and Vassiliadis, T. and Kanatakis, S. and Paraskevas, E and Vafiadis, I. and Avgerinos, A. and Tzathas, C. and Manolakopoulos, S. and Ketikoglou, I. and Aggelis, P. and Goritsas, K. and Giannoulis, G. and Hatzis, G. G. and Thomopoulos, K. and Akriviadis, E. and Sypsa, V and Hatzakis, A}
}
