Pegasys interferon
Common Questions and Answers about Pegasys interferon
pegasys
pegasys 48 weeks (the only thing that can cure me for real) or tenofovir for ... ever ?
Because my VL is still very high I am not sure about the pegasys's efficacity at this stage. I know that taking pegasys could pay off in the long term (5-6-10 years) but the sides could be quite serious.
I know all the ups and downs of both treatment but I still have a dilemma.
I tend to favour the tenof. because of manageability (I am in the process of switching work places).
interferon lambda will be available soon, interferon has very little chances of hbv eradication when hbsag is higher than 1500iu/ml
You need more then pegasys to treat Hepatitis C. Present treatment requirers 3 drugs. Interferon, Ribavirin, & Incivik or Victrelis.
In order to get any of these drugs you will have to see a GI doctor, Hepatologist if possible. The doctor will run tests to find out what genotype you are, etc.
Interferon is a protein that your body is constantly making, and your body makes even more interferon when it tries to fight off an infection, such as a virus. You've experienced this if you've ever had the flu. When you have the flu, your body makes extra interferon to defeat the virus that's causing the illness.
For some infections, such as hepatitis C, patients can inject more interferon into their bodies to help fight the virus.
The trial is evaluating the dose and duration of treatment with RG7128 in combination with Pegasys [pegylated interferon alfa-2a] plus Copegus (ribavirin). The primary efficacy endpoint of the trial is the proportion of patients achieving an SVR, defined as serum HCV RNA below the limit of detection as measured by the Roche TaqMan assay 24 weeks after completion of treatment.
none is more potent and both are useless on hbv, interferon might work if hbsag is less than 1500iu/ml
interferon also needs the following to work
vitamin d25oh must be 50-80ng/ml
tot chol less than 150mg/dl
ldl50mg/dl
no insuline resistance by homa test
since interferon has been shown to induce hbsag mutations it is not suggested to make interferon monotherapy
follow posts here since your liver specialist is not update or doesnt want to personalize your treatment and just apply guidelines in a blind way, which is bar to wasted time and money
we have posted many results on the combination therapy to improve that 8% to more than 40% on interferon results, plus there is a new type of interferon close to approval, interferon lambda, with mild sides and more potency.
You might ask your doctor to change your treatment protocol somehow; different type of interferon (Pegasys to Pegintron, perhaps). The last time you did the treatment were you fully compliant with meds; did you take the ribavirin and interferon on time as scheduled? It might benefit you to increase ribavirin dosage if possible, dependent on blood values.
In short, something should probably change in regards to your medication to expect a different outcome the second treatment.
SVR for Pegasys plus Copegus combination therapy is 44-51% for genotype 1, and 70-82% for genotypes 2 through 6. Pegasys is a ready-made solution that is dosed at 180µg regardless of a person's weight. The FDA has also approved Pegasys for treatment of chronic hepatitis B and Pegasys plus Copegus for the treatment of people with HIV and hepatitis C coinfection.
Both Roferon and Pegasys are manufactured by Roche Pharmaceuticals, but Pegasys is interferon combined with polyethylene glycol. This causes the medicine to last longer in the body, only requiring one infection per week, vs. 3 x week for Roferon. In the U.S., pegylated interferon is the standard of care; it works much better.
Pegasys is the Roche interferon (alpha-2a) and when it was first introduced around ten years ago some believed that it worked a little better than the other pegalayted interferon called PegIntron (alpha-2b) that was sold by Schering-Plough. I don't know if that is true or if it has any bearing now with triple treatment. I was also told that Pegasys was easier tolerated than PegIntron.
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