Triple therapy with protease inhibitors, telaprevir and boceprevir, is the new standard of treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 infection. In this study, we investigated the natural history of anemia in patients treated with triple therapy compared to those treated with pegylated-interferon and ribavirin (PEG/RBV) in the real-life setting. Methods: Anemia was monitored in 72 consecutive patients treated with telaprevir-(46) or boceprevir-based triple therapy (26) for 16 weeks. These

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... patients were statistically matched to 72 controls with respect to age, sex, race, and fibrosis that were treated previously with PEG/RBV. Anemia was treated by dose RBV dose reduction, red blood cell (RBC) transfusions, or epoetin alfa injections (EPO).