The combination therapy with pegylated interferon (Peg-IFN) and ribavirin has been accepted as a “standard-of-care” treatment for chronic hepatitis C. However, this therapy is far from satisfactory; the sustained virological response (SVR) is achieved in no more than half of the patients infected with genotype 1. At present, 48-week therapy for genotype 1/4 and 24-week therapy for genotype 2/3 are recommended. Recently, the concept of individualized therapy has emerged; patients with rapid virological response may be successfully treated with shorter course of therapy than scheduled, whereas late responders may require longer course. Further data is required to provide patients with optimal regimens.

Although prognosis of the patients who have obtained SVR is fairly good, long-term efficacy of Peg-IFN maintenance therapy aiming the suppression of viral replication for those who could not eradicate virus by the standard-of-care therapy is still controversial. More information whether Peg-IFN maintenance therapy suppresses the progression to liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma is required.

We have to wait for a while until the specifically targeted antiviral therapy for HCV (STAT-C) agents is launched in the market. Even after the appearance of STAT-C agents, Peg-IFN and ribavirin may remain as the mainstay in the treatment for chronic hepatitis C.

In this special issue, we are focusing on these unsolved problems in the Peg-IFN/ribavirin combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C.

The topics to be covered include, but are not limited to:

• Factors associated with SVR
• Response-guided therapy
• Difference between Peg-IFN alfa-2a and alfa-2b
• Treatment of difficult-to-cure patients
• Treatment of special groups of patients (patients with renal failure, liver transplant recipients, etc.)
• Long-term effect of IFN treatment on the progression of liver diseases
• New IFNs (e.g., albuferon) and alternative forms of ribavirin (e.g., viramidine)

Before submission, authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/heprt/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/ according to the following timetable: