New Drug Combination Improves Hepatitis C Cure Rate

Researchers are in the final steps of evaluating two new drugs to add to the existing treatment for hepatitis C.
An estimated 170 million people worldwide have the liver infection known as hepatitis C. The standard, two-drug treatment is not effective for a lot of patients. The new medications could improve that treatment.
In one study, scientists are comparing the existing two-drug therapy with a proposed three-drug treatment that adds a protease inhibitor called boceprevir.
Using today's standard recommended treatment, doctors cure only about 40 percent of hepatitis C patients. Saint Louis University researcher Bruce Bacon says that's about the cure rate experienced by the control group in his study.
"But in the boceprevir-treated patients, it was around 66-70 percent of patients [who] were cured. So, almost a 30 percent [percentage point] incremental¹ improvement in response rates. So, quite dramatic."
Bacon is co-principal investigator² on a study testing boceprevir. He has also worked with the other new hepatitis C drug, telaprevir.
Expert advisory³ committees of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will consider the results of studies of the two drugs at the end of April, and Bacon says they could be on the market as early as June.
"They're roughly equivalent in terms of their efficacy or effectiveness, and they have a slightly different side-effect profile between the two of them."
Those side effects include anemia⁴, skin rash, and a metallic⁵ aftertaste.
Boceprevir is only expected to be effective against one variety of hepatitis C, known as genotype 1. It's the most prevalent form of the disease in the Americas, Europe, and East Asia, but represents only a minority of cases in Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.
Saint Louis University researcher Bruce Bacon reports the latest results from the ongoing⁶ study of boceprevir in The New England Journal of Medicine. An editorial in the journal says the new drugs represent the beginning of "a new era" of successful hepatitis C therapy.

1 incremental   

adj.增加的

参考例句：

• For logic devices, the incremental current gain is very important. 对于逻辑器件来说，提高电流增益是非常重要的。 来自辞典例句
• By using an incremental approach, the problems involving material or geometric nonlinearity have been solved. 借应用一种增量方法，已经解决了包括材料的或几何的非线性问题。 来自辞典例句

2 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

3 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

4 anemia   

n.贫血，贫血症

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。
• I was put on iron tablets for my anemia.我曾因贫血吃补铁药片。

5 metallic   

adj.金属的；金属制的；含金属的；产金属的；像金属的

参考例句：

• A sharp metallic note coming from the outside frightened me.外面传来尖锐铿锵的声音吓了我一跳。
• He picked up a metallic ring last night.昨夜他捡了一个金属戒指。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。