Background and aim: Clinical studies evaluating the efficacy of daclatasvir (DCV) for treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4 (GT4) infection are scarce. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of DCV plus sofosbuvir (SOF) with or without ribavirin (RBV) for treatment of Egyptian patients infected with HCV GT4.
Methods: Between April 2016 and March of 2017, a large cohort of 946 patients with chronic HCV GT4 was enrolled for completing the treatment. Patients were classified into two groups: group 1 (easy to treat) was treated with a dual therapy of SOF/DCV daily for 12 weeks and group 2 (difficult to treat) was treated with a triple therapy of SOF/DCV/RBV daily for 12 weeks. Efficacy and safety of the treatments were estimated, and baseline characters associated with sustained virological response at 12 weeks post-treatment (SVR12) were investigated.
Results: Among the patient's cohort, SVR12 was achieved by 94% (891/946) in the overall patients, by 95% (718/758) in the easy-to-treat group, and by 92% (173/188) in the difficult-to-treat group. The most common adverse events recorded were fatigue, headache, nausea, asthenia, and gastrointestinal troubles. No patient discontinued treatment due to severe adverse events.
Conclusion: The findings from the present study suggested that SOF/DCV (with or without RBV) regimen exhibited high effectiveness, was well tolerated in the treatment of chronic HCV GT 4, and revealed itself as a better option for patients with advanced liver disease, making the eradication of HCV a more realistic target to achieve.
Keywords: Difficult-to-treat patients; Direct antiviral agents; Easy-to-treat patients; Egyptian patients.