Efficacy and tolerability of telaprevir for chronic hepatitis virus C genotype 1 infection: a meta-analysis

BackgroundChronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the leading causes of hepatic cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, and HCV genotype 1 is the most prevalent genotype and is resistant to current standard therapy. We performed this meta-analysis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of telaprevir-based therapy for chronic HCV genotype 1 infection.MethodsWe included randomized controlled trials with no year or language restriction. All data were analyzed using a random-effects model by Review Manager v5.0. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients achieving sustained virologic response (SVR), and the secondary outcomes were HCV relapse rate, incidence of severe adverse events (SAEs), and discontinuation due to adverse events.ResultsThe proportion of achieving SVR was significantly higher in the telaprevir group (odds ratio [OR] =3.40 [1.92, 6.00], PConclusionDespite its higher incidence of SAEs and discontinuation due to adverse events, telaprevir-based therapy can increase the proportion of achieving SVR in both previously treated and untreated chronic HCV-1 infected patients.