HELLO,what blood tests do they run when a person finishes 48 weeks of peg-intron treatment? I have 3 more shots to go!!! Thank YOU!

TADPOLE

There are many tests available, but the ones I recommend are the QUALitative test by Roche, or their new (experimental) test based on TMA technology. A lot depends on what your doctor iknows about testing and what your laboratory uses, so it may or may not be available to you.

An end of treatment test (taken six months after treatment has ended) is read as a "positive" or "negative" result. No viral load numbers. The important thing to know is, is there detectable virus, yes or no. The qualittive test s more sensitive than a qualitative, and the new TMA is even better but not yet approved by the FDA.

It is at 12 weeks into treatment that a viral load matters to determine whether there has been a sufficient (2 logs or more) drop in viral load to continue the treatment (if your doctor is going to measure treatment outcome that way)

I hope this helps,

thanbey
www.hcop.org (http://www.hcop.org)

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www.hcop.org (http://www.hcop.org)
preapproved by moderator1

[This message has been edited by thanbey (edited 01-09-2003).]