Oral and Gastrointestinal

Hepatitis C

June 2002

Clinical Focus*

• How well do the results of initial liver biopsy predict measures of disease progression and outcomes of treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C, taking into consideration patient characteristics such as viral genotype?
• How well do biochemical blood tests and serologic measures of fibrosis predict the findings of liver biopsy in patients with chronic hepatitis C?
• What are the efficacy and safety of current treatment options for chronic hepatitis C in treatment-naive patients, including pegylated interferon plus ribavirin, pegylated interferon alone, interferon plus ribavirin, and interferon plus amantadine?
• What is the efficacy and safety of current interferon-based treatment options (including interferon alone) for chronic hepatitis C in selected subgroups of patients, especially those defined by the following characteristics: age less than or equal to 18 years, race/ethnicity, hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype, presence or absence of cirrhosis, minimal versus decompensated liver disease, concurrent hepatitis B or HIV infection, non-response to initial interferon-based therapy, and relapse after initial interferon-based therapy?
• What are the long-term clinical outcomes (greater than or equal to 5 years) of current treatment options for chronic hepatitis C?
• What is the efficacy of screening tests for hepatocellular carcinoma to improve clinical outcomes in patients with chronic hepatitis C?
• What are the sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values of tests that could be used to screen for hepatocellular carcinoma (especially resectable carcinoma) in patients with chronic hepatitis C?

*Addressed in the summary or evidence report.

Management of Chronic Hepatitis C
Summary (Publication No. 02-E029, June 2002)
Evidence Report (Publication No. 02-E030, June 2002)
(PDF Files; File Download)

EPC: Johns Hopkins University
Topic Nominator: NIH Office of Medical Applications of Research

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