In Prognosis and Treatment, Genome Studies Continue to Enlighten

摘要

In just seven weeks between the beginning of June 2011 and mid-July appeared at least 20 research papers on a single-gene polymorphism (SNP) lying on chromosome 19 close to the gene (IL28B) that encodes a type III interferon. This is an astonishing rate of publication, a trigger for which must surely have been the contribution now standing at #6 in the Top Ten, with an accumulated 279 citations in the Hot Papers database as of March-April 2011. This publication showed that genetic variation in IL28B can help clinicians and patients predict response to treatment (pegylated interferon and ribavirin being the current standard) given for hepatitis C. A companion paper now stands at #25 (D.L. Thomas, etal. Nature, 461 [7265]: 798-801, 2009; total cites 160, latest count 43), this being concerned with the natural history of hepatitis C, whereas the report from three weeks earlier in 2009 (#6) looked at sustained viral clearance in response to treatment.