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Among patients infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV), the overall sustained virologic response (SVR) rate to peginterferon and ribavirin therapy is about 50%. However, race and ethnicity have been shown to influence these rates. Now, researchers have compared SVR rates between treatment-naive Latino and non-Latino patients with HCV genotype 1 infection.
The multicenter, open-label, prospective study, which was sponsored by the manufacturer of peginterferon alfa-2a, involved 269 Latino whites and 300 non-Latino whites. The parents and grandparents of all Latino patients spoke Spanish as their primary language; most Latino patients had origins in Mexico or Puerto Rico. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups, except that more Lati…