Triple therapy with boceprevir for HCV genotype 1 infection: phase III results in relapsers and nonresponders.

This is an excellent time for patients with hepatitis C virus infection who have failed past treatment with standard of care (SOC) peginterferon (PEG-IFN) and ribavirin (RBV). New treatments have been shown to increase sustained virological response (SVR) rates. Previous relapsers and those with some responsiveness to interferon will clearly benefit from protease inhibitor-based therapy. Patients with little interferon response may not be suited for these regimens, but can be treated by careful selection on a case-by-case basis. Resistance needs to be carefully monitored as these newer and more potent drugs are added to IFN and RBV backbone drugs. Adverse events will be more frequent and will require special attention.