Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver
 
 

Treatment failures

Relapse after interferon monotherapy: - these are patients in whom the ALT normalized or in whom viral clearance occurred transiently during interferon monotherapy, but who relapsed after completion of therapy. These patients should be offered treatment with interferon and ribavirin (80). The expected response rate is similar to naïve patients.
Non-responder to interferon monotherapy: - These are patients in whom the ALT did not return to normal during therapy, or in whom viral clearance from serum was not achieved. There are several treatment options for these patients, each with a response rate of 10-15%. These include re-treatment with interferon and ribavirin, treatment with consensus interferon (81), or induction therapy with interferon. There is insufficient information to make a recommendation on the effectiveness of any of the therapeutic options for patients who were non-responders to interferon monotherapy.
Failure of combination therapy: -Patients who fail to respond or who relapse after combination therapy should be managed in consultation with a centre with expertise in this area.
 
There are no proven treatment options for these patients at present, but they may be candidates for experimental therapies.

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