Table 3.
Conventional IFN/Peg IFN therapy | Ref. | No. of patients | Dose | Duration | SVR (%) | Withdrawal rate (%) |
Two metaanalysis studies (IFN-α) | Fabrizi et al[73] | 269 | 1.5-6.0 MU/d to 3 times per week | 24-48 wk | 37 | 17 |
IFN-α | Russo et al[74] | 213 | 3.0-5.0 MU/d to 3 times per week | 24-48 wk | 33 | 30 |
Two head-to-head comparisons (IFN-α vs PegIFN-α) | Fabrizi et al[75] | 645 | 1.0-6.0 MU/d to 3 times per week (n = 529) | 8-48 wk | 39 | 19 |
135-180 μg/wk (a-2a) or 0.5-1.0 μg/kg per week (a-2b) (n = 116) | 48 wk | 31 | 27 | |||
IFN-α vs PegIFNα + ribavirin | Gordon et al[76] | 546 | 1.0-6.0 MU/d to 3 times per week (n = 459) | 16-48 wk | 41 | 26 |
135-180 μg/wk (a-2a) or 0.5-1.0 μg/kg per week (a-2b) (n = 87) | 24-48 wk | 37 | 28 | |||
PegIFN-α | Fabrizi et al[77] | 254 | 135-180 μg/wk (a-2a) or 0.5-1.1 μg/kg per week (a-2b) | 24-48 wk | 33 | 23 |
HD: Hemodialysis; HCV: Hepatitis C virus; IFN-α: Interferon-α; PegIFN-α: Pegylated interferon-α; RBV: Ribavirin.