Background: Less than 15% of patients with chronic hepatitis C show a sustained virological response to interferon treatment.
Aim: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of different doses of ketoprofen combined with interferon-alpha 2b in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.
Patients/methods: Seventy compensated patients with chronic hepatitis C received interferon-alpha 2b 3 million units three times a week for six months. They were randomly assigned to: group 1 (n = 23), interferon-alpha 2b alone; group 2 (n = 23), interferon-alpha 2b plus 200 mg ketoprofen three times a week; group 3 (n = 24), interferon-alpha 2b plus 200 mg ketoprofen twice a day. Complete and sustained responses were defined as normal serum alanine aminotransferase levels and negative serum hepatitis C virus RNA at six and 12 months respectively.
Results: Complete and sustained responses were similar in groups 1 and 2: 10% v 5% and 5% v 0% respectively. In group 3, complete response was 29% (p = 0.13 v group 1 and p = 0.04 v group 2) and sustained response was 26% (p = 0.07 v group 1 and p = 0.01 v group 2). Overall, adverse events were similar in the three groups. However, 'flu-like syndrome was less common in group 2 (30%) and group 3 (37%) than in group 1 (77%) (p = 0.01).
Conclusions: Twice daily ketoprofen administration combined with interferon-alpha 2b produced an increase in complete and sustained responses. Although the combination of interferon-alpha 2b with ketoprofen was well tolerated and decreased the incidence of 'flu-like syndrome, it is advisable to monitor possible non-steroid anti-inflammatory drug hepatotoxicity.