Real‐world experience of chronic hepatitis c‐related compensated liver cirrhosis treated with glecaprevir/ pibrentasvir: A multicenter retrospective study

Abstract

Background: Glecaprevir/pibrentasvir is a protease inhibitor‐containing pangenotypic direct‐acting antiviral regimen that has been approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. The present study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir in patients with compensated cirrhosis in a real‐world setting. Methods: We evaluated the real‐world safety and efficacy of glecaprevir/pibrentasvir in patients with compensated cirrhosis from five hospitals in the Changhua Christian Care System, who underwent treatment between August 2018 and October 2020. The primary endpoint was a sustained virological response observed 12 weeks after completion of the treatment. Results: Ninety patients, including 70 patients who received the 12‐ week therapy and 20 patients who received the 8‐week therapy, were enrolled. The mean age of the patients was 65 years, and 57.8% of the patients were males. Sixteen (17.8%) patients had end‐stage renal disease, and 15 (16.7%) had co‐existing hepatoma. The hepatitis C virus genotypes 1 (40%) and 2 (35.6%) were most common. The common side effects included anorexia (12.2%), pruritus (7.8%), abdominal discomfort (7.8%), and malaise (7.8%). Laboratory adverse grade ≥3 events included anemia (6.3%), thrombocytopenia (5.1%), and jaundice (2.2%). The overall sustained virological response rates were 94.4% and 97.7% in the intention‐to‐treat and per‐protocol analyses, respectively. Conclusions: the glecaprevir/pibrentasvir treatment regimen was highly effective and well tolerated among patients with compensated cirrhosis in the real‐world setting.