Public release date: 24-Feb-2011
Contact: Dawn Peters
healthnews@wiley.com
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Wiley-Blackwell
High costs, insurance status, and eligibility issues restrict treatment options
New research has determined that patients in the U.S. with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are twice as likely to not have health insurance coverage compared with those without the disease. In fact researchers found only a third of HCV infected Americans have access to antiviral therapy; the remaining are either uninsured or not candidates for therapy due to treatment contraindications. Details of this study are published in the March issue of Hepatology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).
HCV is the most common cause of chronic liver disease, hepatocellular (liver) cancer, and liver transplantation in the U.S., with up to 85% of HCV-positive individuals (3.5 million) developing chronic HCV infection. Symptoms of chronic HCV are non-specific which can inhibit diagnosis and as many as 75% of patients are unaware of their HCV infection (Hagan et al., 2006). Furthermore, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that HCV causes 12,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.
"Successful treatment with antiviral therapy improves health-related quality of life in patients with HCV and could potentially reduce morbidity and mortality in patients," said Zobair Younossi, MD, MPH, from the Center of Liver Diseases at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Virginia and lead author of the study. "A significant number of HCV patients, however, may not even have access to antiviral therapy due to lack of adequate health insurance coverage." It is estimated to cost up to $48,000 per year for monitoring and treatment of HCV.
For the current study, researchers analyzed health insurance status and treatment candidacy of HCV-positive individuals using 2005-2008 data collected from the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES). This information was collected via household interviews, physical examinations and extensive laboratory sample data from subjects who were 18 years of age or older and living in the U.S.
Analysis showed that 1.16% of study subjects were infected with HCV. Among those with HCV only 61% were insured compared to 81% of HCV-negative individuals. HCV infection was an independent predictor of being uninsured even after adjusting for demographic disparity in the HCV-positive group. Approximately 67% of HCV-positive patients were eligible for treatment, however only 54% of those treatment candidates had insurance coverage.
Some individuals with HCV may not be eligible for antiviral therapy due to contraindications to treatment. Previous studies have found that only half of HCV patients exhibit a positive response to peginterferon/ribavirin treatment. "The side effect profile of the current antiviral therapy requires careful selection of treatment candidates with a number of chronic conditions," said Dr. Younossi. The authors noted that patients with comorbidities such as active cardiac disease, severe depression, or renal failure are typically ineligible for antiviral therapy due to severe adverse events that may occur with treatment.
Research showed that only 36% of HCV-positive patients who were eligible for antiviral therapy had health insurance. "Access to care for HCV patients is critical. Our results have important implications for HCV-infected patients and should be considered as new health care reform legislation takes effect," Dr. Younossi concluded.
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Article: "Insurance Status and Treatment Candidacy of Hepatitis C Patients: Analysis of Population-based Data from the United States." Maria Stepanova, Fasiha Kanwal, Hashem B. El-Serag, Zobair M. Younossi. Hepatology; Published Online: February 11, 2011 (DOI: 10.1002/hep.24131); Print Issue Date: March 2011. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hep.24131/abstract.
This study is published in Hepatology. Media wishing to receive a PDF of the articles may contact healthnews@wiley.com.
About the Journal
Hepatology is the premier publication in the field of liver disease, publishing original, peer-reviewed articles concerning all aspects of liver structure, function and disease. Each month, the distinguished Editorial Board monitors and selects only the best articles on subjects such as immunology, chronic hepatitis, viral hepatitis, cirrhosis, genetic and metabolic liver diseases and their complications, liver cancer, and drug metabolism. Hepatology is published on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD). For more information, please visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1527-3350.
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Source
Also See: Many Hepatitis C-Positive Patients Are Uninsured
March 12, 2011
Treatment failure and resistance with direct acting antiviral drugs against hepatitis C virus
Hepatology. 2011 Mar 3. doi: 10.1002/hep.24262. [Epub ahead of print]
Pawlotsky JM.
National Reference Center for Viral Hepatitis B, C and Delta, Department of Virology, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Université Paris-Est, Créteil, France; INSERM U955, Créteil, France. jean-michel.pawlotsky@hmn.aphp.fr.
Abstract
Current treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection is based on the combination of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin. The recent development of direct-acting antiviral molecules active on hepatitis C virus, together with in vitro and in vivo studies showing that these drugs may lead to the selection of resistant viruses if administered alone, has raised concerns that resistance may undermine therapy based on direct acting antivirals. A new standard-of-care treatment will soon be available for both treatment-naïve and -experienced patients infected with hepatitis C virus genotype 1, based on a triple combination of pegylated interferon-α, ribavirin and a protease inhibitor, either telaprevir or boceprevir. With this therapy, most failures to eradicate infection in treatment-adherent patients are due to an inadequate response to pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin, in the context of a low genetic barrier to resistance of first-generation protease inhibitors. This article reviews patterns of resistance to hepatitis C virus direct acting antiviral drugs in development, the mechanisms underlying treatment failure when these drugs are combined with pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin, the consequences of treatment failure, and possible means of optimizing therapies using direct acting antivirals in the future. (HEPATOLOGY 2011.).
Copyright © 2011 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
PMID: 21374691 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source
Pawlotsky JM.
National Reference Center for Viral Hepatitis B, C and Delta, Department of Virology, Hôpital Henri Mondor, Université Paris-Est, Créteil, France; INSERM U955, Créteil, France. jean-michel.pawlotsky@hmn.aphp.fr.
Abstract
Current treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection is based on the combination of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin. The recent development of direct-acting antiviral molecules active on hepatitis C virus, together with in vitro and in vivo studies showing that these drugs may lead to the selection of resistant viruses if administered alone, has raised concerns that resistance may undermine therapy based on direct acting antivirals. A new standard-of-care treatment will soon be available for both treatment-naïve and -experienced patients infected with hepatitis C virus genotype 1, based on a triple combination of pegylated interferon-α, ribavirin and a protease inhibitor, either telaprevir or boceprevir. With this therapy, most failures to eradicate infection in treatment-adherent patients are due to an inadequate response to pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin, in the context of a low genetic barrier to resistance of first-generation protease inhibitors. This article reviews patterns of resistance to hepatitis C virus direct acting antiviral drugs in development, the mechanisms underlying treatment failure when these drugs are combined with pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin, the consequences of treatment failure, and possible means of optimizing therapies using direct acting antivirals in the future. (HEPATOLOGY 2011.).
Copyright © 2011 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
PMID: 21374691 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source
Second phase HCV RNA decline during telaprevir based therapy increases with drug effectiveness: Implications for treatment duration
Hepatology. 2011 Mar 7. doi: 10.1002/hep.24272. [Epub ahead of print]
Guedj J, Perelson AS.
Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos 87545, USA.
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA decay during antiviral therapy is characterized by a rapid first phase followed by a slower second phase. The current understanding of viral kinetics attributes the magnitude of the first phase decay to the treatment effectiveness, whereas the second phase decay is attributed to the progressive loss of infected cells. Here we analyzed data from 44 patients treated with telaprevir, a potent HCV protease inhibitor. Using a viral kinetic model that accounts for the pharmacokinetics of telaprevir, we found that the second phase slope of viral decline to be strongly correlated with the treatment effectiveness and to be roughly four-fold more rapid than has been reported with interferon-based therapies. Since telaprevir is not known to increase the death rate of infected cells, our results suggest the second phase slope of viral decline is driven not only by the death of infected cells but may also involve other mechanisms, such as a treatment effectiveness-dependent degradation of intracellular viral RNA. As a consequence of the enhanced viral decay caused by the high antiviral effectiveness of telaprevir, we predict that if drug resistance could be avoided by using an appropriate combination of antiviral agents, treatment duration needed to clear HCV might be dramatically shortened. Indeed, we predict that in 95% of fully compliant patients, the last virus particle should be eliminated by week 7 of therapy. If the remaining infected hepatocytes act as a potential reservoir for the renewal of infection, no more than 10 weeks of treatment should be sufficient to clear the infection in 95% of fully compliant patients. However, if patients miss doses, treatment duration would need to be extended. (HEPATOLOGY 2011.).
Copyright © 2011 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
PMID: 21384401 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source
Guedj J, Perelson AS.
Theoretical Biology and Biophysics, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos 87545, USA.
Abstract
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) RNA decay during antiviral therapy is characterized by a rapid first phase followed by a slower second phase. The current understanding of viral kinetics attributes the magnitude of the first phase decay to the treatment effectiveness, whereas the second phase decay is attributed to the progressive loss of infected cells. Here we analyzed data from 44 patients treated with telaprevir, a potent HCV protease inhibitor. Using a viral kinetic model that accounts for the pharmacokinetics of telaprevir, we found that the second phase slope of viral decline to be strongly correlated with the treatment effectiveness and to be roughly four-fold more rapid than has been reported with interferon-based therapies. Since telaprevir is not known to increase the death rate of infected cells, our results suggest the second phase slope of viral decline is driven not only by the death of infected cells but may also involve other mechanisms, such as a treatment effectiveness-dependent degradation of intracellular viral RNA. As a consequence of the enhanced viral decay caused by the high antiviral effectiveness of telaprevir, we predict that if drug resistance could be avoided by using an appropriate combination of antiviral agents, treatment duration needed to clear HCV might be dramatically shortened. Indeed, we predict that in 95% of fully compliant patients, the last virus particle should be eliminated by week 7 of therapy. If the remaining infected hepatocytes act as a potential reservoir for the renewal of infection, no more than 10 weeks of treatment should be sufficient to clear the infection in 95% of fully compliant patients. However, if patients miss doses, treatment duration would need to be extended. (HEPATOLOGY 2011.).
Copyright © 2011 American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
PMID: 21384401 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source
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