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Meds, Mind, Body & Benefits => Research News & Studies => Topic started by: veritas on May 26, 2010, 09:37:06 am

Title: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: veritas on May 26, 2010, 09:37:06 am

A 75% cure rate, without the horrors of peg-interferon and ribavirin. The major side effect of Vertex?s telaprevir is a skin rash, which is not considered a clinically important safety issue, but can impact enrollment for trials.


http://www.thestreet.com/_yahoo/story/10766792/1/vertex-hepatitis-c-drug-cures-75-of-patients.html?cm_ven=YAHOO&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA

Now if we can only have something like this for hiv-------!

v
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: WhySoUnfair on May 26, 2010, 10:17:20 am
A 75% cure rate, without the horrors of peg-interferon and ribavirin. The major side effect of Vertex?s telaprevir is a skin rash, which is not considered a clinically important safety issue, but can impact enrollment for trials.

As discussed above, 75% of the patients in the so-called "12+12" arm achieved a viral cure rate, defined as undetectable levels of virus measured six months after treatment stopped. The viral cure rate for the shorter, 8-week telaprevir regimen was 69%, while 44% of control patients treated with just standard of care achieved a viral cure. These results were statistically significant in favor of telaprevir.

Thanks for sharing.
It seems it's a "clinical cure" but not an "actual cure". I think the "cured" patient's Hep C antibody test is still positive, pls correct me if I'm wrong.

We need an actual cure for HIV. Fingers crossed!
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Ann on May 26, 2010, 10:47:11 am
Technically, the term for "cure" when talking about hep C is "sustained response".

I underwent the "horrors" of peg interferon/Ribavirin back in '02-'03 and I've had a sustained response - but yes, I usually do refer to it as being cured. One isn't considered "cured" until a sustained response has been maintained for at least a year.

I haven't had a hep C viral load since May '02. I finished the treatment in April '03. I went 52 weeks instead of the usual 48 because both my doctor and I wanted to make sure it was gone.

I will always test hep c positive, but I do not have a viral load. Some people will attain an undetectable VL while on the interferon treatment, but their virus rebounds within a few week of stopping treatment. This happened to my ex-husband (who is hiv neg).

I would imagine that even if hiv can be cured some day, people will still test positive on the antibody tests, just like with hep C. It's like many other illnesses, once  you've had it, you'll always carry the antibodies, even though the virus or whatever is no longer in your body.

I'm surprised the article says the current standard of care is a twelve month treatment, because for some genotypes, the CSC is six months. The CSC for the genotype my ex and I both had/have is six months (24 weeks) - but I treated for 52 weeks because of my coinfection. It was a year of hell, but I'm glad I did it.

I tried to get my ex to go for twelve as well, but he wimped out. He also refuses to try again.

I was hopeful (for him) at first while reading this, until I realised that it's not just three months, it's three months of triple therapy, followed by another three months of the usual interferon/ribavirin. He might try three months, but no way will he do six months again.

Thanks for posting this, V. I'll pass it on to the ex, but as I said, I doubt very much that he'd be interested. You never know though - I habitually live in hope.

edited to add some stuff for clarity
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: WhySoUnfair on May 26, 2010, 10:56:46 am
Technically, the term for "cure" when talking about hep C is "sustained response".

I will always test hep c positive, but I do not have a viral load. Some people will attain an undetectable VL while on the interferon treatment, but their virus rebounds within a few week of stopping treatment. This happened to my ex-husband (who is hiv neg).

Hi A,
I have zero knowledge about Hep C. Could you pls explain why are you still Hep C pos if there is no viral load? does it mean the virus is still there, but it's just UD?
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Ann on May 26, 2010, 11:52:15 am
When you test positive, for either hiv or hep C, that means antibodies specific to that virus have been found in your blood. Antibodies are something your body produces to any number of pathogens. Antibodies help your body's immune system recognise and fight an intruder.

Antibodies for some pathogens will disappear from the body in time, while others will always remain. Hep C antibodies are among those that will remain.

A viral load test measures how much of the virus you have in your bloodstream. An antibody test does not look for the actual virus, but rather the antibodies your own body has produced.

The virus is no longer in my body. If it hadn't been eradicated my hep C viral load would have become detectable again, just like when someone who is hiv positive, undetectable, and stops taking their meds. The virus is still in their body and their viral load will start to rise to detectable levels again.

The hep C viral load in untreated, infected individuals is typically in the millions, even thousands of millions, unlike untreated hiv where the viral load is more typically in the thousands. A hiv VL in the millions is cause for great concern, but a hcv VL in the millions is just par for the course.

So what I'm saying is that nine years after I finished the treatment, if it didn't work, my hcv VL would be back in the millions. I'm still undetectable, so the virus is no longer in my body.

Clear as mud? These links might help, but then again they might confuse you even more. I don't know how much biology you know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibody

http://www.cellsalive.com/antibody.htm

There's a good break-down of immune functions on the following link, and it's written in laymen's terms for the most part.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/general/body_basics/immune.html
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Inchlingblue on May 26, 2010, 12:45:36 pm
I would imagine that even if hiv can be cured some day, people will still test positive on the antibody tests, just like with hep C. It's like many other illnesses, once  you've had it, you'll always carry the antibodies, even though the virus or whatever is no longer in your body.
 

That would probably depend on the type of treatment. The Berlin patient who underwent the bone marrow transplant has been very closely followed and they've found fewer and fewer HIV anitibodies each time. It's believed he will eventually test HIV-negative.
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Ann on May 26, 2010, 01:24:02 pm
That would probably depend on the type of treatment. The Berlin patient who underwent the bone marrow transplant has been very closely followed and they've found fewer and fewer HIV anitibodies each time. It's believed he will eventually test HIV-negative.

Yes, I would imagine that bone marrow transplant would do that. I think any cure would involve stopping the virus from replicating, thereby eventually eliminating it from the body. I don't think that would end up with antibodies also disappearing. Just like with hep C.
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: veritas on May 26, 2010, 03:14:27 pm


Ann,

"I'll pass it on to the ex, but as I said, I doubt very much that he'd be interested. You never know though - I habitually live in hope."

Here is a list of hepc drugs in development to watch. Some without having to use P&R:

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/hepC/HCVDrugs.html

Hope still lives!

v
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: WhySoUnfair on May 26, 2010, 08:34:07 pm
Yes, I would imagine that bone marrow transplant would do that. I think any cure would involve stopping the virus from replicating, thereby eventually eliminating it from the body. I don't think that would end up with antibodies also disappearing. Just like with hep C.
so he's only "functionally cured"? and he's still poz and he still carries the infectious virus?
so we will be poz forever? I'm so sad, so stressed...
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Ann on May 26, 2010, 09:26:35 pm
Why,

Chill out. I'll be forever hep c poz, but so what? I don't actually have hep C any more.

"Only" functionally cured? Good gracious, the man is CURED of hiv! CURED! It doesn't matter that he still has antibodies. IT. DOES. NOT. MATTER.

If you read Inches post, he said "The Berlin patient who underwent the bone marrow transplant has been very closely followed and they've found fewer and fewer HIV anitibodies each time. It's believed he will eventually test HIV-negative." But again, so what? Even if he continues to test poz - and he might not - he no longer has hiv, regardless of his antibody status.


I'm so sad, so stressed...


You would really benefit from finding yourself a good therapist so you can snap out of this woe-is-me mind frame. You're not doing yourself any favours.
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Hellraiser on May 26, 2010, 09:54:27 pm
You would really benefit from finding yourself a good therapist so you can snap out of this woe-is-me mind frame. You're not doing yourself any favours.

It's like talking to a wall.
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: BlackLion on May 26, 2010, 10:02:46 pm
so he's only "functionally cured"? and he's still poz and he still carries the infectious virus?
so we will be poz forever? I'm so sad, so stressed...

I think that i'm very very happy if we have a "functionally cured" like that.
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: tednlou2 on May 27, 2010, 03:23:37 am
Is it true that about 20% of people clear Hep C on their own?  Also, is liver damage something that happens in everyone with Hep C?  Or, it is like other things---some get severe liver damage, some only get slight damage, or others have none?  I was just reading an article about a high number of people in the NYC area having liver cancer due to the infection.
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Ann on May 27, 2010, 09:47:18 am

Here is a list of hepc drugs in development to watch. Some without having to use P&R:

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/hepC/HCVDrugs.html

Hope still lives!

v

Thanks V, I'll pass that on.


Is it true that about 20% of people clear Hep C on their own?  Also, is liver damage something that happens in everyone with Hep C?  Or, it is like other things---some get severe liver damage, some only get slight damage, or others have none?  I was just reading an article about a high number of people in the NYC area having liver cancer due to the infection.


Yes, it's true that approximately 20% will clear hep C on their own. With hep B, the self-clearance rate rises to approximately 80%.

Like hiv, how people's bodies react to hep C is entirely individual. Some will not develop any serious liver damage and it is not unknown for hep C to not be discovered until after death (from other causes) during autopsy.

I never had a problem with my hep C infection (which pre-dated my hiv infection by about thirteen years) until I became coinfected. There is evidence that the presence of hiv will accelerate the progression of hep C infection. It certainly did in my case.

And yes, hep C infection can often, but not always, lead to liver cancer.

It usually also causes some degree of cirrhosis. With some people the level of cirrhosis is so slight they never realise they have it. With others, the level of cirrhosis is quite serious. Most fall somewhere in-between.
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: WhySoUnfair on May 27, 2010, 10:56:34 am

Yes, it's true that approximately 20% will clear hep C on their own. With hep B, the self-clearance rate rises to approximately 80%.


Hi A,
Tk u 4 explaining this to us.

I think Pamela Anderson has Hep C if I'm not wrong. Didn't she tell the public that there's no cure for Hep C?   Is she cured now? Well, let's say now she's cured and she no longer carries the virus but her Hep C antibody test is still poz, can she still infect other ppl?

If people can clear Hep C on their own, why can't we clear HIV on our own? so frustrating...
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Ann on May 27, 2010, 11:41:27 am
Why,

You don't seem to be understanding that antibodies are not the actual virus (or whatever pathogen). Antibodies cannot infect.

Antibodies are chemicals produced by your own body  that indicate the virus or (other pathogen) has at one time  been in the body. Other tests are often necessary to determine whether or not the virus or (other pathogen) is still currently  in the body.

Other tests, other than the Western Blot, are not necessary to determine if hiv is still in the body because we know that the human body cannot clear hiv infection on it's own.



I still test hep C antibody positive and always will. As I said above, antibodies are not the virus itself and cannot infect.

I do not have a hep C viral load. I do not have hep C. I cannot infect anyone with hep C.

People who have self-cleared hep C will also always test hep C antibody positive. We know they have cleared the virus because they do not have a hep C viral load. They also cannot infect anyone with hep C.



Hiv and hep C are very different viruses. There are many viruses that can be self-cleared.

Some viruses cannot be self-cleared. Viruses in the herpes family are one. Hiv is another.



Pamela Anderson does indeed have hep C. If I remember correctly she came out and said that her  infection cannot be cured.

There are some genotypes that are more difficult to eradicate with the treatment than others. I had an easier to treat genotype. She has a harder to treat genotype. Genotypes are basically sub-types. Hep C has many.



Did you not bother to even attempt to read any of the antibody information I linked you to? I'm surprised at your difficulty in grasping the concept of antibodies - what with you being Ivy educated and all.
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: WhySoUnfair on May 27, 2010, 12:30:42 pm

People who have self-cleared hep C will also always test hep C antibody positive. We know they have cleared the virus because they do not have a hep C viral load. They also cannot infect anyone with hep C.

Some viruses cannot be self-cleared. Viruses in the herpes family are one. Hiv is another.


Hi A,
I'm sorry if I'm annoying you but I will read the link tonight. Can we cure herpes? I'm just worried one day when the HIV cure comes, we will still be poz...and we all know the stigma of being poz...
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Miss Philicia on May 27, 2010, 01:13:58 pm
I'm just worried one day when the HIV cure comes, we will still be poz...and we all know the stigma of being poz...

Why don't you wait and worry about this when it happens?  And stop fixating endlessly on finding a cure, because it may not happen for 20 years, or it simply may never happen.  There's no way to know, so you're just wasting energy and giving yourself needless panic attacks.
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Ann on May 27, 2010, 01:22:52 pm
No, we cannot cure herpes, but we can suppress it with a drug called acyclovir. To suppress it means that you do not get outbreaks but the virus is still in your body.

If and when there is a cure for hiv, there will no longer be the stigma attached to being hiv antibody positive because being hiv antibody positive will no longer mean anything of any importance to your ongoing life.

Have you found a therapist yet? Because you're just spinning your wheels and getting no where fast. Hiv is not the totality of your life - so get over it and get back to living already!
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: tednlou2 on May 28, 2010, 03:48:15 am
If there was a cure for HIV, I could care less whether it still showed I was poz on a test.  As long as the damage of the virus was stopped, why worry.  I would sing it to the mountain tops that I was poz.

Even though this is about HEP C, I'm always happy to hear news like this.  For one, it helps people with HEP C obviously.  2nd, who knows whether it could give some researcher an idea about HIV.  It may not, but ya never know.
Title: Re: Fantastic news for those with HEPC !!!!
Post by: Ann on May 28, 2010, 08:05:13 am

If there was a cure for HIV, I could care less whether it still showed I was poz on a test.  As long as the damage of the virus was stopped, why worry.  I would sing it to the mountain tops that I was poz.


Preach!


Even though this is about HEP C, I'm always happy to hear news like this.  For one, it helps people with HEP C obviously.  2nd, who knows whether it could give some researcher an idea about HIV.  It may not, but ya never know.


It's very good news. There are far more people living with hep C than there are hiv and it's a very serious problem. It's the leading cause of liver cancer, for example.

It's also a growing problem with people also infected with hiv - particularly amongst gay men.