IL28B polymorphisms do not predict response to therapy in chronic hepatitis C with HCV genotype 5

We read with interest the paper by Hayes et al 1 on the impact of genetic polymorphisms near IL28B in predicting treatment response in chronic hepatitis C patients infected with hepatitis C virus genotype 1 (HCV-1). These results confirm the large, existing evidence in support of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) near IL28B being the most powerful predictors of virological response in patients infected with all major HCV genotypes, that is, 1–4.2 No data is available for HCV-5, a rare genotype neglected in clinical trials.3 We report IL28B SNP frequency and its impact on treatment outcome in 49 patients of homogeneous Caucasian ancestry, all from Syria, infected with HCV-5. Treatment included 180 μg …