Sustained virologic response rates with telaprevir-based therapy in treatment-naive patients evaluated by race or ethnicity.

Background: The phase 3 studies of telaprevir (T) in combination with peginterferon alpha-2a and ribavirin (PR) in treatmentnaive genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus-infected patients (ADVANCE/ILLUMINATE) were not designed a priori to assess the effect of race and ethnicity on treatment response. However, these factors are important given the lower sustained virologic response (SVR) rates observed in black and Hispanic/Latino patients treated with PR. Goals: This retrospective pooled analysis evaluated the effect of race or ethnicity on treatment-naive patient response to telaprevir-based therapy and assessed resistant variant profiles. Materials and Methods: This analysis comprised patients enrolled in ADVANCE (N = 363) and ILLUMINATE (N = 540) who received 12 weeks of telaprevir in combination with PR followed by 12 or 36 weeks of PR alone and patients in ADVANCE (N = 361) who received 48 weeks of PR alone. Race and ethnicity were self-reported and not mutually exclusive. Results: Higher SVR rates were observed with telaprevir-based therapy compared with PR in blacks [n = 99 (62%) vs. n = 28 (29%), respectively] and in Hispanics/Latinos [n = 89 (72%) vs. n = 38 (39%)]. The SVR was lower in telaprevir-treated blacks [n = 99 (62%)] compared with nonblacks [n = 791 (78%)] and in Hispanic/Latinos compared with non-Hispanics/Latinos [n = 89 (72%) vs. n = 801 (76%)]. Low discontinuation rates due to adverse events, including rash and anemia, were observed across subgroups. Resistance profiles were similar among the subgroups. Conclusions: Treatment-naive black and Hispanic/Latino patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus infection may benefit from telaprevir-based therapy, an important finding given the lower SVR rates observed in these patients when they are treated with PR alone.