#interferon

Screening patients for autoantibodies against interferons could help predict which patients are more likely to become very sick.

After being melanoma-free for five years in 2000, McGowan began a 4,250-mile adventure from Oregon to the Atlantic Ocean in Virginia.

Whether such recurrence is less likely after interferon treatment remains the source of some controversy in the hep C research community.

“Truly, I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for clinical trials,” she says.

The link between the older interferon treatment and these cancers may be related to the drug’s low hep C cure rate.

Dr. Krim led research on interferon and advocated for treatment access.

Any previous apparent link between direct-acting antivirals, compared with interferon, and liver cancer was likely driven by other factors.

But curing hepatitis C does lower the risk of liver cancer.