Genetic Test to Give Clues on Treatment of Hepatitis C

NY Times ^ | April 26, 2006 | ANDREW POLLACK

[neverdem]

Celera Genomics plans to announce today that it has developed a genetic test it says can help predict which patients with hepatitis C will eventually suffer liver scarring and so are in most need of treatment.

The test, which looks at variations in seven genes, represents another step toward personalized medicine, in which treatments are tailored to patients. Various companies are selling or developing such tests, for purposes that include detecting cancer early, monitoring heart transplants and choosing which drugs may work best to treat cancer, AIDS and heart disease.

In the case of hepatitis C, therapy is expensive and can cause severe fatigue, fever, depression and other side effects.

Although there is some disagreement about this, it has been estimated that only 20 percent of the roughly three million Americans chronically infected with the virus will develop cirrhosis, the severe scarring that can lead to liver failure or liver cancer. But it has not been possible to predict which patients are at greatest risk. Celera's new test is meant to gauge an individual patient's odds.

"The current therapies to treat hepatitis C are fairly noxious," said Dr. Scott L. Friedman, chief of the division of liver diseases at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan, who collaborated with Celera to help develop the test. "One of the tough decisions we face as clinicians is who should be treated with current antiviral therapies and who can afford to wait."

He said the test "represents a potential breakthrough once it's validated independently in large numbers of patients."

Celera will present data on its test Friday in Vienna at the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of the Liver.