Efficacy and safety of dual therapy with daclatasvir and asunaprevir in elderly patients

AIM: To survey the efficacy and safety of dual therapy with daclatasvir and asunaprevir in the elderly hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients multicentricity. METHODS: Interferon-ineligible/intolerant patients and non-responders to previous pegylated-interferon/ribavirin therapy with chronic HCV genotype 1b infection were enrolled. Child B, C cirrhotic patients were excluded. Patients received oral direct acting antiviral treatment consisting of 60 mg daclatasvir once daily plus 200 mg asunaprevir twice daily for 24 wk. We divided the patients into two groups of 56 elderly patients (≥ 75 years-old) and 141 non-elderly patients (< 75 years old) and compared the efficacy and safety. RESULTS: Ninety-one point one percent of elderly patients and 90.1% of non-elderly patients achieved sustained virological response at 24 wk (SVR(24)). In the former, 1.8% experienced viral breakthrough, as compared with 3.5% in the latter (not significant). Adverse events occurred in 55.4% of the former and 56.0% of the latter. In the former, 7 cases (12.5%) were discontinued due to adverse events, and in the latter 9 cases were discontinued (6.4%, not significant). CONCLUSION: Dual therapy with daclatasvir and asunaprevir achieved the same high rates of SVR(24) in HCV elderly patients without more adverse events than in the non-elderly patients.