Predicting the response to treatment
Some people think they can’t get treated for HCV because their CD4 counts are too low. But the things that are important for knowing how well you are doing with your HIV do not always predict how well you will respond to HCV treatment.
- Several factors can help you predict your chance of how well HCV treatment will work, including:
- HCV genotype (2 and 3 are more sensitive to treatment than 1 or 4).
- HCV viral load (treatment is more effective with an HCV viral load that starts below 400,000 IU/mL.
- Race (treatment is less effective for African-Americans, ongoing research is looking at this question)
- Amount of liver damage and steatosis (treatment is less effective for people with cirrhosis or steatosis).
- HIV status (treatment is less effective for HIV-positive people than HIV-negative people).
- Adherence to treatment, including maintaining the full dose of ribavirin and pegylated interferon at least 80% of the time.
- Body weight (treatment is less effective for people who weigh more than75 kg (165 lbs).
- Age under 40 years.
- Effectively manage side effects!
In the end though, as with HIV, the only way to know how you will respond is to try treatment.