Retreatment of Dialysis Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C With Pegylated Interferon Alfa-2a Plus Low Dose Ribavirin

October 7, 2009 updated by: National Taiwan University Hospital

Retreatment of Dialysis Patients With Chronic Hepatitis C With Pegylated Interferon Alfa-2a Plus Low Dose Ribavirin Who Fail Interferon Alfa or Pegylated Interferon Alfa Monotherapy - a Pilot Study

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common in dialysis patients. Interferon (IFN)-based treatment for chronic hepatitis C has been the mainstay therapy in immunocompetent patients. Two meta-analyses evaluating the efficacy and safety of conventional IFN alfa monotherapy showed that the sustained virologic response (SVR) rates were 37% and 33%, respectively; and the corresponding dropout rates were 17% and 29.6%, respectively. The efficacy and safety of pegylated IFN alfa-2a and 2b in treating dialysis patients showed conflicting results, with a more favorable outcome of patients treated with pegylated IFN alfa-2a (135-180 μg/week: SVR 33-75%, well tolerated) than those treated with pegylated IFN alfa-2b (0.5-1.0 μg/week: SVR 12.5%, poorly tolerated), Currently, IFN-based therapy to treatment HCV infection should be initiated in dialysis stages, because the use of IFN in RT patients harbors high risks of acute graft rejection,and have low response rates under the concomitant use of immunosuppressive agents.

Ribavirin, which has been used in combination with IFN to treat chronic hepatitis C in the general patients and achieve a higher SVR rate than IFN monotherapy, is considered contraindicated in dialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C due to the risk of severe hemolytic anemia. However, some pilot studies evaluating combined conventional IFN alfa plus low dose ribavirin (170-300 mg/day) showed SVR rates of 17%-66% after 24-48 weeks of treatment.In addition, a recent study including 6 patients with combination of pegylated IFN alfa plus low dose ribavirin also showed a SVR rate of 50%.

Although dialysis patients have a higher SVR rate to conventional IFN or pegylated IFN monotherapy than patients with normal renal function for HCV therapy. More than half of these patients are relapsers or non-responders to IFN monotherapy. Retreatment of HCV-patients with normal renal function by combined pegylated IFN alfa plus ribavirin who fail to response to IFN monotherapy has achieved a SVR rate of 28%. Based on the long-term favorable outcome in dialysis patients who eradicate HCV, the aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of retreatment by pegylated IFN alfa-2a plus low dose ribavirin in dialysis patients who fail to achieve HCV eradication by conventional or pegylated IFN alfa.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common in dialysis patients, with the reported prevalence varying from 3% to 80% worldwide.(1-3) Although these patients usually have mild symptoms and moderate elevation of alanine transaminase levels, recent international collaborative survey and prospective studies found that anti-HCV seropositivity and positive HCV RNA were risk factors for mortality and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).(4-7) Furthermore, progressive hepatic fibrosis, poor patient and graft survival were observer in dialysis patients with HCV infection who undergo renal transplantation (RT), suggesting immunosuppression following RT may worsen the course of hepatic fibrosis and renal graft function.(8-13) These lines of evidence indicate that HCV infection in the dialysis population is an important issue to be tackled.

Interferon (IFN)-based treatment for chronic hepatitis C has been the mainstay therapy in immunocompetent patients. In dialysis patients, treatment with conventional or pegylated interferon has also received much attention recently. Two meta-analyses evaluating the efficacy and safety of conventional IFN alfa monotherapy showed that the sustained virologic response (SVR) rates were 37% and 33%, respectively; and the corresponding dropout rates were 17% and 29.6%, respectively.(14,15) The efficacy and safety of pegylated IFN alfa-2a and 2b in treating dialysis patients showed conflicting results, with a more favorable outcome of patients treated with pegylated IFN alfa-2a (135-180 μg/week: SVR 33-75%, well tolerated) than those treated with pegylated IFN alfa-2b (0.5-1.0 μg/week: SVR 12.5%, poorly tolerated),(16-21) which may result from different pharmacokinetic profiles between these two pegylated IFNs. Currently, IFN-based therapy to treatment HCV infection should be initiated in dialysis stages, because the use of IFN in RT patients harbors high risks of acute graft rejection,(22,23) and have low response rates under the concomitant use of immunosuppressive agents.(24,25) Ribavirin, which has been used in combination with IFN to treat chronic hepatitis C in the general patients and achieve a higher SVR rate than IFN monotherapy, is considered contraindicated in dialysis patients with chronic hepatitis C due to the risk of severe hemolytic anemia. However, some pilot studies evaluating combined conventional IFN alfa plus low dose ribavirin (170-300 mg/day) showed SVR rates of 17%-66% after 24-48 weeks of treatment.(26-28) In addition, a recent study including 6 patients with combination of pegylated IFN alfa plus low dose ribavirin also showed a SVR rate of 50%.(29) Although dialysis patients have a higher SVR rate to conventional IFN or pegylated IFN monotherapy than patients with normal renal function for HCV therapy. More than half of these patients are relapsers or non-responders to IFN monotherapy. Retreatment of HCV-patients with normal renal function by combined pegylated IFN alfa plus ribavirin who fail to response to IFN monotherapy has achieved a SVR rate of 28%.(30) Based on the long-term favorable outcome in dialysis patients who eradicate HCV, the aim of the study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of retreatment by pegylated IFN alfa-2a plus low dose ribavirin in dialysis patients who fail to achieve HCV eradication by conventional or pegylated IFN alfa.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

35

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Taiwan
      • Taipei, Taiwan, 100
        • National Taiwan University Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Non-responders or relapsers of dialysis patients to conventional interferon or pegylated interferon monotherapy
  • Age 18~65 years old
  • Creatinine clearance (Ccr) < 10 ml/min/1.73 m2
  • Anti-HCV (Abbott HCV EIA 2.0, Abbott Diagnostic, Chicago, IL) positive > 6 months
  • Detectable serum quantitative HCV-RNA (Cobas Taqman HCV Monitor v2.0, Roche Diagnostics) with dynamic range 25- 391000000 IU/ml

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Severe anemia (hemoglobin < 10 g/dL) or hemoglobinopathy
  • Neutropenia (neutrophil count, <1,500/mm3)
  • Thrombocytopenia (platelet <90,000/ mm3)
  • Co-infection with HBV or HIV
  • Chronic alcohol abuse (daily consumption > 20 g/day)
  • Autoimmune liver disease
  • Decompensated liver disease (Child classification B or C)
  • Neoplastic disease
  • An organ transplant
  • Immunosuppressive therapy
  • Poorly controlled autoimmune diseases, pulmonary diseases, cardiac diseases, psychiatric diseases, neurological diseases, diabetes mellitus
  • Evidence of drug abuse
  • Unwilling to have contraception

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Pegylated IFN + RBV for HCV genotype 1
Pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 135 ug/week plus ribavirin (Copegus, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 200 mg/day for 48 weeks for HCV genotype 1
Drug: Pegylated interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin
Pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 135 ug/week plus ribavirin (Copegus, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 200 mg/day for 48 weeks
Drug: Pegylated interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin
Pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 135 ug/week plus ribavirin (Copegus, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 200 mg/day for 24 weeks
Experimental: Pegylated IFN + RBV for HCV genotype 2
Pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 135 ug/week plus ribavirin (Copegus, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 200 mg/day for 24 weeks for HCV genotype 2
Drug: Pegylated interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin
Pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 135 ug/week plus ribavirin (Copegus, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 200 mg/day for 48 weeks
Drug: Pegylated interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin
Pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 135 ug/week plus ribavirin (Copegus, F. Hoffman-LaRoche) 200 mg/day for 24 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
1.Number of Participants With Sustained Virologic Response (SVR) 2.Number of Participants Who Droppoed Out of the Study Prematurely Due to Adverse Events (AEs)
Time Frame: 1.5 year
  1. Number of participants with sustained virologic response (SVR): number of patients with undetectable HCV RNA 6 months off therapy by real-time PCR test (Cobas TaqMan HCV Test v2.0, Roche Diagnostics GmbH, Mannheim, Germany, limit of detection < 25 IU/mL)
  2. Number of participants who droppoed out of the study prematurely due to adverse events (AEs): number of patients who prematurely withdrew from the study due to any adverse events
1.5 year

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of Participants With Histologic Response(HR)
Time Frame: 1.5 year
Number of participants with histologic response (HR): number of patients who had improvement of as least 2 scores at the end of follow-up liver biopsy compared to baseline liver biopsy by Ishak scoring system (the sum of Ishak necroinflammation score (0-18) and Ishak fibrosis score (0-6); the higher the total scores, the severer the histologic changes)
1.5 year

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

National Taiwan University Hospital

Collaborators

National Science Council, Taiwan
Department of Health, Executive Yuan, R.O.C. (Taiwan)

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Chen-Hua Liu, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan Universitys Hospital

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

June 1, 2006

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2008

Study Completion (Actual)

July 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 23, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 23, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

June 26, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

November 13, 2009

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

October 7, 2009

Last Verified

October 1, 2009

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 200703032M

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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