I was told I will be taking victrellis instead of incivek. Wonder how results are comparing with the two.

Perhaps discuss it with your Dr. Marilyn.

Too high a percentage of adverse events!!!
And they didn't even give a break down on how the different anti-rejection drugs did with respect to the amount of increase in the dosage which was required more with so telaprevir than with victrelis...

From a previous study I know that if a patient is on cyclosporine, their percentage of adverse events are less because the dosage adjustment is substantially less than a patient that would be on Tacrolimus which is the anti-rejection drug I take...

And between the two 1st gen PI's the victrelis is even better than telaprevir in regards to dosage adjustment for patients on cyclosporine... this is good news for Marilyn!!!

It's funny that they didn't reflect on that important aspect with respect to treating post-transplant patients and how their immuno-suppressant dosages are affected between the 2 PI's...

And by creating a comparison in a simple graphic chart to show the differences in dosage adjustment between all of the anti-rejection drugs taken as well as the percentage of patients on each of these drugs within the study...

The last three paragraphs for me couldn't be more clear to me with respect to whether or not I made the right decision not to participate in this study back when they were recruiting!!!

it's kind of a boost to me because now I know for sure that I made the right decision not to participate and here they are:

"Adverse events were common in this cohort and 11% discontinued treatment for this reason (23% with advanced disease and 6% without). A majority of patients used growth factors, reduced their doses of interferon or ribavirin, or required transfusions to manage blood cell deficiencies...

ABOUT ONE - THIRD HAD CREATININE INCREASES INDICATIVE OF IMPAIRED KIDNEY FUNCTION. ONE IN FIVE EXPERIENCED SERIOUS ADVERSE EVENTS THAT REQUIRED HOSPITALIZATION, 4% EXPERIENCED LIVER GRAFT (Organ) REJECTION and 6% DIED DURING FOLLOW UP (4% due to liver-related causes).

"High rates of eRVR are achievable with triple therapy exceeding previous rates with [pegylated interferon/ribavirin] alone despite a difficult to treat population," the researchers concluded. "SVR4 rates may be lower in patients with advanced disease."

"These results must be balanced with high rates of [adverse events], INCLUDING HOSPITALIZATION, KIDNEY DYSFUNCTION AND DEATH," they continued. "Improving tolerability and identifying predictors of SVR are critical to optimizing the risks-benefits of post-liver transplant triple therapy."

So in a nutshell they're saying that they need more studies to get it right! I'm not going to take a chance with the 1st Generation PI's if they cannot give me better stats than what is given in this study...

However, since Marilyn has never treated previously, she stands a much better chance of treating with Victrelis as part of the triple tx! She also will have the advantage of not having to have such serious adverse events because she takes cyclosporine which requires less of a dosage adjustment for her to take the triple tx...

And finally,her liver is in worse shape than mine and ironically I have had HCV since my transplant which was over 15 yrs ago and Marilyn has had her liver for three. ;>(
Go get' em Marilyn!!!

Respectfully,
Henry

There ya go Marilyn! Hank comes through again! :^)

Sounds like your doctor made the best choice for you given the meds you are on. I don't remember why my doc chose Incivik, but it worked for me.
Girl, I can't tell you how happy I am that you are about to be finished with hcv. You are such a trooper!
Hugs, Karen:)