Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Feb 14, 2023; 29(6): 949-966
Published online Feb 14, 2023. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v29.i6.949
Decade of optimizing therapy with direct-acting antiviral drugs and the changing profile of patients with chronic hepatitis C
Michał Brzdęk, Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk, Federica Invernizzi, Marta Cilla, Krystyna Dobrowolska, Robert Flisiak
Michał Brzdęk, Krystyna Dobrowolska, Collegium Medicum, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce 25-516, Poland
Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk, Department of Infectious Diseases, Jan Kochanowski University, Kielce 25-516, Poland
Federica Invernizzi, Marta Cilla, Center for Liver Disease, Division of Internal Medicine and Hepatology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan 20-132, Italy
Robert Flisiak, Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology, Medical University of Białystok, Białystok 15-540, Poland
Author contributions: Brzdęk M designed the manuscript, carried out the literature review, drafted the manuscript and prepared the tables; Zarębska-Michaluk D designed the manuscript and carried out the literature review; Dobrowolska K approved the final version of the manuscript and prepared the manuscript for submission; Flisiak R designed the manuscript; Zarębska-Michaluk D, Invernizzi F, Cilla M and Flisiak R edited and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare having no relevant conflicts of interest within the submitted work.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Dorota Zarębska-Michaluk, PhD, Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, Jan Kochanowski University, Radiowa 7, Kielce 25-516, Poland. dorota1010@tlen.pl
Received: October 12, 2022
Peer-review started: October 12, 2022
First decision: November 15, 2022
Revised: November 22, 2022
Accepted: January 9, 2023
Article in press: January 9, 2023
Published online: February 14, 2023
Core Tip

Core Tip: A decade ago direct-acting antiviral drugs were introduced and have greatly improved the effectiveness of treatment for patients with hepatitis C virus infection. The new drugs have increased the chances of eliminating hepatitis C virus infection as a significant public threat. This paper described changes in the therapeutic options administered over the past decade and documented the changing patient profile over the years in the interferon-free era. Special populations of difficult-to-treat patients in the interferon era currently not meeting this definition are highlighted.