Clinical effect and safety of sofosbuvir-ledipasvir regimen in treatment of patients with HCV genotype 6a chronic hepatitis C

Objective To investigate the clinical effect and safety of sofosbuvir ( SOF) -ledipasvir ( LDV) in the treatment of patients withHCV genotype 6 a chronic hepatitis C ( CHC) . Methods A total of 63 patients with HCV genotype 6 a CHC who visited Department of In-fectious Diseases, Henan Provincial People's Hospital and Nanfang Hospital, from October 2014 to December 2016 were enrolled in thisprospective observational study. They were divided into SOF-LDV group ( treated with SOF-LDV for 12 weeks) and PR group ( treatedwith pegylated interferon combined with ribavirin for 24 weeks) . HCV RNA was measured during treatment and follow-up, and virologicresponse was evaluated. The chi-square test was used for comparison of categorical data between two groups, and the Mann-Whitney Utest was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups. Results There were no significant differences between the PR groupand the SOF-LDV group in rapid virologic response rate ( 85. 3% vs 100%, P > 0. 05) and virologic response rate at the end of treatment ( 94. 1% vs 100%, P > 0. 05) . The SOF-LDV group had a significantly higher sustained virologic response rate than the PR group ( 96.4% vs 73. 5%, χ2= 4. 38, P = 0. 036) . The PR group had a significantly higher incidence rate of adverse events than the SOF-LDV group ( χ2= 7. 54, P = 0. 006) . During follow-up, one patient with liver cirrhosis in the SOF-LDV group developed small hepatocellular carcino-ma, while no patient in the PR group developed liver cancer at the end of follow-up. Conclusion SOF-LDV for 12 weeks is safe and ef-fective in the treatment of HCV genotype 6 a CHC, but liver cancer should be closely monitored in patients with liver cirrhosis.