Does SVR improve survival?
There is optimism despite lack of long-term studies that SVR is a beneficial endpoint. What has been shown is that lack of detectable RNA to hepatitis C is associated with improvement in hepatic inflammation and fibrosis. Secondly, once SVR is attained there is a very low likelihood of relapse. Encouraging data from two Japanese studies has shown that SVR is associated with lower risk of hepatocellular cancer. However, this optimism is tempered by a study from Italy that did not find any difference in hepatocellular cancer rates between treated and untreated patients.
