October 28th, 2008 
Von by Steven Reinberg
Researchers are reporting a potential “cure” for hepatitis C, a blood-borne viral infection that’s the leading cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer and the need for liver transplants in the United States.
Use of the drug peginterferon, either alone or in combination with the drug ribavirin, reduced levels of the virus to undetectable levels for up to seven years, the researchers said.
“This paper strongly suggests, for the first time, that hepatitis C is a curable disease,” said lead researcher Dr. Mitchell Shiffman, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and chief of hepatology and medical director of the school’s Liver Transplant Program. “After treatment, 99.6 percent of the patients remained virus undetectable for over five years,” he added. (more…)
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