Patients with hepatic cirrhosis due to HCV infection should be treated with antiviral agents. The main goal of therapy in such patients is to eliminate the virus that is causing liver damage and allow the liver to recover, both in terms of fibrosis/progression and functionality. Treatment with interferons may reduce or halt progression of the liver disease and reduce the risk of HCC developmenteven in the continued presence of the virus. Other important aim of the treatment is to obtain sustained viral response (SVR). In Poland, antiviral therapy of cirrhotic patients is undertaken too rarely. The paper presents the options of therapeutic management.

Keywords: hepatic cirrhosis, treatment, standard IFN, pegylated IFN, ribavirin