MRC Notes
This series is based on notes that I took when I attended the Medical Research Council (MRC) HCV Conference in Ottawa on January 15 &16, 1999. While every attempt has been made to maintain accuracy, you must keep in mind that these are only my personal notes.
Darlene Morrow
Canadian Research into Hepatitis C
by Dr. Morris Sherman
An overview of research into hepatitis C was conducted by a:
- mailing to delegates
- mailing to hepatologists known to be involved in research
-mailing to delegates of LCDC consensus conference a few months ago (98)
There are 50 studies ongoing or completed in Hepatitis C in Canada.
3 Groups-
Epidemiology
-incidence (none)
-prevalence (4)
-transmission routes (6)
Basic Science
-molecular (2)
-immunology (1)
-pathology (1)
-drug design (1)
Clinical Studies
-treatment (15)
-natural history (1)
-outcome (1)
-fatigue and quality of life (1)
-liver disease (2)
Clinical Trials with Drug Companies
-Schering
-Hoffman
-Serano
-Amgen
Canadian Manuscripts in Medical Literature
96-98 - 31 manuscripts
91-95 - 26
Subjects- 3 largest are sponsored by drug companies.
1. Transfusion acquired - 14
2. IVDU- 3
3. Treatment- 8
Respondants
-13 investigators listed
-15 investigators did not respond by the time of this conference
58 people involved in HCV research.
Proposed Studies
- therapy -2
-carcinogen- 1
-liver disease- 3
-fatigue - 1
-transmission - 1
-prevention - 1
-natural history- 1
-cell biology/molecular biology - 1
Deficiencies
-sentinel health units
-IVDU
-sexual transmission
-prisons
-dental/office
-nosocomial
-acupuncture
Natural History
-long term population based
-risk of HCC
-screening for HCC
-mehtods of evaluating progression
-prediction of progression