Big changes are coming in hepatitis C

The story of hepatitis C virus (HCV) therapy is about to add one of its biggest chapters. From the serendipitous beginnings in the 1980s when investigators noted that interferon improves liver enzymes in non-A, non-B hepatitis, to the discovery and naming of the hepatitis virus, to the addition of ribavirin, to the pegylation of interferon, and now to the first direct-acting antivirals (DAA), the history of HCV is an intriguing one that continues to unfold. Along with the first DAAs, other important findings have helped explain long-observed differences between various ethnic groups, as well as new predictive information that can be gleaned from some of the observed adverse events.