478 INFECTIONS DURING PEGINTERFERON (PEGIFN)/RIBAVIRIN (RBV) THERAPY ARE ASSOCIATED WITH THE MAGNITUDE OF DECLINE IN THE LYMPHOCYTE COUNT: RESULTS OF THE IDEAL STUDY

Primary endpoint was SVR 24 weeks post-therapy (Roche TaqMan LLD = 9.3 IU/mL). Relapse was the proportion of patients with undetectable HCV-RNA at end of treatment and detectable posttreatment. Results: In treatment-naive patients, anemia and EPO use occurred in: BOC 49.4% (363/734) and 43.3% (318/734), respectively; PR control, 29.7% (108/363) and 24.0% (87/363), respectively. In both placebo and BOC groups, SVR was more frequent in patients who developed anemia compared to those who did not (P < 0.001, Table). In previous-treatment-failure patients, anemia and EPO use occurred in: BOC 48.6% (157/323) and 43.3% (140/323), respectively; PR control, 25% (20/80) and 21.2% (17/80), respectively. In the BOC group, SVR was more frequent in patients who developed anemia compared to those who did not (P< 0.001, Table). In both patient groups, EPO was prescribed in 78.5% of anemic patients treated with BOC (408/520) and 68.0% (87/128) of those in the PR control group. Conclusions: Higher SVR rates were observed among previously untreated and previous-treatment-failure patients who developed anemia during BOC or control PR therapy. Since ~80% of anemic patients took EPO, additional research is needed to understand the relationship of SVR, R dose reduction, and EPO use.