Pegylated Interferon, Ribavirin, Telaprevir in Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Orthotopic Liver Transplant Recipients

BACKGROUND:

Cirrhosis from HCV is the most common indication for OLT. Unfortunately, disease recurrence in the allograft is virtually universal. The spectrum of disease recurrence ranges from minimal inflammation to severe cholestasis as well as cirrhosis, leading to allograft failure. Previous reports indicated a comparable survival rate between patients who received OLT for HCV and those who received OLT for other indications. More recent data, however, suggested that HCV-positive recipients have significantly impaired patient and allograft survival following OLT as compared to HCV-negative recipients. Approximately 20% of patients with recurrent HCV have cirrhosis at 5 years post-OLT.

Attempts to treat HCV recurrence in OLT recipients have had limited success. Sustained virologic responses (SVR) have only been seen in up to 30% of patients with genotype 1 infection, whereas SVR has been higher at 42-46% for non-transplant counterparts. Most recently, the addition of telaprevir to pegylated interferon and ribavirin to comprise the triple therapy in the nontransplant HCV-infected population has led to significantly higher sustained virologic response rate (SVR) of 75% when compared to 44% observed in the control arm which received pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Its side effect profile was acceptable to allow the FDA to approve the drug on May 23, 2011. However, there is no data on the efficacy and safety of telaprevir in OLT recipients. In fact, its use in this population is greatly hindered by a significant drug-drug interaction with the major immunosuppressive agents used in OLT, namely tacrolimus and cyclosporine. Telaprevir increases cyslosporine exposure by 4.6 fold and its half-life by 3.5 fold. It increases tacrolimus exposure to 70 fold and its half-life by 4.9 fold. Clearly, the doses of these immunosuppressive agents need to be adjusted at the start and end of telaprevir therapy.

The primary aim of our study is to determine the safety and efficacy of pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys®), ribavirin, and telaprevir therapy in liver transplant recipients with hepatitis C recurrence who are maintained on cyclosporine or tacrolimus-based immunosuppression. We hypothesize that triple therapy will have better sustained virologic response rates than the current standard of care, pegylated interferon and ribavirin, with an acceptable side-effect profile.

STUDY DESIGN:

Prospective, open-label, single center pilot study. All patients will receive the study drug along with the standard regimen of pegylated interferon and ribavirin.

DRUG DOSE AND TREATMENT DURATION:

Patients will be treated with pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys®) 180 mcg SQ per week, ribavirin 800-1200 mg PO per day (weight-based) for 48 weeks. Telaprevir 750 mg PO tid will be administered for the first 12 weeks. Following completion of therapy, patients will be followed for another 24 weeks to determine sustained response.

*Doses lower than 800 mg/day may be used by the investigator in patients with renal insufficiency (as ribavirin is renally excreted), at the investigator's discretion.

RESEARCH PROTOCOL:

This prospective study will include patients who have histologic evidence of recurrent HCV infection who are maintained on cyclosporine-based immunosuppression.

Patients who qualify for the study will be identified from the Liver Transplant Clinic. Patients will be treated with pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys®) 180 mcg SQ per week, ribavirin 600-1200 mg PO per day, and telaprevir 750 mg tid (Incivek®) for 12 weeks, followed by pegylated interferon alfa-2a (Pegasys®) and ribavirin for another 36 weeks. Patients will be assessed at periodic intervals for safety and adverse effects as delineated in the Schedule of Assessments (Appendix A). Growth factors such as erythropoietin and filgastrim will be allowed in the event that signficiant anemia and thrombocytopenia develops during therapy, at the discretion of the investigator.

The HCV RNA will be measured at baseline and weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36 and 48 of therapy as well as during follow-up. Response to therapy is defined by HCV RNA <1000 IU/ml at weeks 4, 8, and 12 of therapy, which will allow continuation of treatment. Telaprevir will be discontinued if HCV RNA is >1000 IU/ml at weeks 4 or 8 of therapy, and pegylated interferon and ribavirin will be discontinued if HCV RNA is still detectable by week 24 of therapy.

Cyclosporine or tacrolimus trough levels will be drawn at baseline, days 1,2, 3, 4,5, 8, and to be continued every 2-3 days. The cyclosporine or tacrolimus dose will be cut by 50% at baseline and cyclosporine or tacrolimus dose adjustments will be made to maintain the level within the targeted therapeutic range. Once two consecutive levels within the targeted therapeutic range have been achieved, levels will be drawn weekly for the first month then biweekly until the end of telaprevir treatment. After the last dose of telaprevir, cyclosporine or tacrolimus levels will be drawn on days 1, 3, 5, 7 and to be continued every other day, and cyclosporine or tacrolimus dose adjustments will be made to maintain the level within the targeted therapeutic range. Once two consecutive levels within the targeted therapeutic range have been achieved, levels will be drawn in a week and then monthly for up to week 24 of therapy. Patients who complete therapy will continue to be followed for 24 weeks to determine their sustained virologic response.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS:

This is a pilot, single arm study that evaluates the efficacy and safety of triple therapy in recurrent HCV. All clinical and laboratory data will be entered into a computer database. Categorical variables will be expressed as proportions and continuous variables will be expressed in mean values.