SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- An inexpensive new treatment for hepatitis C,
a disease that afflicts 1-2 percent of the population, is more effective
than the standard therapy, according to a recent study.
The pilot study, recently completed at Penn State's Milton S. Hershey Medical
Center, treated patients with amantadine, a drug that has been available
in the United States since the 1960s. Thirty percent of the patients in
the study responded to amantadine treatment.
Amantadine costs only $20 per month -- a tiny fraction of the cost of interferon,
the conventional treatment for hepatitis C. Interferon costs approximately
$500 per month, and must be administered for at least six months.
Jill P. Smith, M.D., associate professor of medicine at Hershey, discovered
that amantadine is an effective alternative treatment for hepatitis C --
without the extensive side effects associated with interferon. Smith will
present the results of her study on May 19 at San Francisco's Mosconi Convention
Center as part of the annual meeting of the American Gastroenterological
Association and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.
Interferon's frequent side effects include a drop in white blood cell count
and flu-like syndrome with aches, pains and fever. Hair loss, anemia, thyroid
disease and severe depression occur less frequently.
Amantadine has fewer side effects, including: difficulty in concentration,
constipation and rare cardiac symptoms in some elderly patients. Another
drawback of interferon treatment is that only 50 percent of the patients
respond to it, according to Smith. Half of those responders relapse after
they stop the six months of therapy, dropping the effectiveness rate to
approximately 25 percent.
The poor response, side effects and cost of interferon treatment prompted
Smith to look for another drug.
Smith's study included 22 patients who were monitored over a four-year period.
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Contact: Gail Brown
gxg14@psu.edu
717-531-8604
Penn State
22-May-1998