LabCorp launches test to predict hep C treatment response
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) has launched a test to predict patients' responses to certain hepatitis C therapies in the US. The diagnostic, which detects a variant in the IL-28B gene, could be used to identify patients who will do better on combined pegylated interferon alfa/ribavirin therapy. This is important because this drug regimen can be gruelling, but is not effective in all patients. Those who respond best have a particular variant, called CC, of genotype 1 hepatitis C. This discovery was first reported in the 17 September 2009 issue of Nature. Genotype 1 is the most common form of the virus, accounting for around 70% of cases in the US.