In most cases that I am aware of at the moment, they do not even do the 4 wk vl anymore as it is not relevant. And yes it is possible that they will extend tx for your friend. You did not say how long tx was to be though. It can be 12 - 16 or 24 weeks depending..

Two out of two of my friends have had their tx extended. One who did not get a 4 wk vl and one who did but was still detectable.

That said, I am on Sovaldi/Riba/Inteferon. I was still detectable at 4 wks but undetectable at 8. I am on a 16 wk regime.

Good luck to your friend. Chances of svr are still good!

I was detectable at 4 weeks, geno 1a,early cirrhosis on solv & riba. I'm still taking the meds in week 11. I'll get 12week labs. I need to stop tx. Riba does not work for me, it did not work at all for me on riba & inf in 2009. Nobody has a viral load the keeps going up every week but I did on riba & inf.
I explain a little on my profile page & more in my journals of 2009.

There is hope, but CK the important test is 12 weeks after end of treatment. Most patients have not been on solvaldi long enough to have those results back yet.

Waiting on my VL results soon know in the next week or so on the 3 meds Solvaldi Pegasy's Ribavarin start my 6th week today!

I agree with Hydron. Some docs do the 4 wk labs to see if there is an early response but they don't use that as a predictor of tx success. There is definitely hope for a successful tx of your friend.

I know one person who had tx failure with sol/riba/ifn & she did the 12 wks. She says her doc will let her do retreatment as soon as S&L is avail. No waiting necessary to tx again with Sol.

What exactly were the test results? There is quantitative and qualitative VL tests. Quantitative gives detected or undetected. Qualitative other will give a number. If that number is low enough, docs just keep going.

Thanks for the answers, People. Since she is a friend on a FaceBook Hep C group ( they made it "hidden" so it's a secret group, for privacy, so smart) I dont have the labs in front of me, but she mentioned the # 15....which would be under 43 but still detectable I suppose, if I were to guess.

WG - it's kinda sorta the other way around and a mish mash in between sometimes depending on the very particular test used. The quantitative test my doc uses does not give detected or undetected. Never will - not that test (Lapcorp's NGI HCV QuantaSure). The number I see, for example, on my reports is "less than 2 IU/mL." That translates to "negative" because the lowest number/amt. on the assay is 2. Qualitative tests give detected or undetected.

Qualitative Test This kind of test detects the presence or absence of HCV RNA. It is reported as either detected (positive) or not detected (negative). The qualitative test is useful to confirm an active HCV infection. The L in qualitative can be equated to a label as in it is used to label someone as having or not having the virus.
Quantitative Test The quantitative test measures the actual number of copies of HCV RNA in the blood. Commonly referred to as the viral load, a quantitative test is typically used to monitor how a person is responding to HCV treatment. The N in quantitative can be equated to a number as in it is used to report the number of HCV viral particles present.

http://www.hepatitiscentral.com/mt/archives/2010/07/how_to_better_u.html

More: http://www.hepatitis.org.uk/s-crina/tests-pcr.htm

I am thinking I've seen qualitative tests results with numbers - as in, "DETECTABLE, 500" or something like that. Not sure. Thing is, qualitative tests ALWAYS denote "detectable" or "undetectable." Quantitative tests do not, which had my brains in a wringer for quite a while.

I agree with your post (#7) catmagic. Most, if not all, of my tests were quantitative and they all indicated a specific number while I was detectable.

Well, it gets complicated. I spent WAY too much time googling about VL results and quantitative/qualitative. My nurse and doc kept telling me that "less than 2" IU/mL on the test they used meant "negative" - as in, "undetected" - but I was so brainwashed by having read only "undetected" on here and other forums, it took me a long time to believe them - negative means undetected. I wanted to see that word! Well, I never will unless a different VL test is done. There are several varieties of the HCV VL test. The BEST the one my doc orders can be is "less that 2... blah, blah, blah..." I had that at 4 weeks and 12 weeks/end of tx and again SVR4 a month after EOT. I finally had to give it up and trust my doc about the lost in translation issues I was having. So that means I will always see a number ("less than 2", I hope) on the NGI HCV QuantaSure of Labcorp. SVR12 VL will be done on August 4.

Since this drug is sooo new - I have watched other forums and I also, am on SOV/Riba and at 12 weeks, I was still less than 12 viral load.

My tx is for 24 weeks, and there are so many different outcomes that
I have decided to quit stressing out and "enjoy" life while my virus is
in check and I feel so much better.

It is out of my hands - we all have so many different variables, genotypes, years of the disease, some failed tx or unable to complete tx - so I still think we are "guinea pigs" - but given an opportunity to clear this disease as SOOO many have.
Good luck to your friend.....geno 2 usually do VERY well...

Warr-g, with all due respect, it is factually incorrect that "Quantitative gives detected or undetected. Qualitative other will give a number." I am interested in people's personal experiences and feedback but I like when people back up scientific claims/facts with links. Misinformation can be very misleading to those that don't do their own research.

I finished Sovaldi/Olysio on July 5. At the end of 4 weeks then again at the end of the 12 weeks, my report read:

HCV RNA,QUANTITATIVE REAL TIME PCR:

HCV RNA, QUANTITATIVE REAL TIME TIME PCR:

Im not being allowed to finish all the info for some reason, no ignore the 2 posts above!