Use or Non-use of Epoetin Beta in Patients Infected by Chronic Hepatitis C

Inclusion Criteria: * Male or female patients 18 years old or above * Patient with French social security or other equivalent health assurance * Patient with informed consent * Serologic evidence of chronic hepatitis C by detectable anti-HCV antibodies * Patient infected by HCV genotype 1, 4, 5 or 6 * Compensated liver disease (Child-Pugh ≤ 6) * Negative urine or blood pregnancy test (for women of childbearing potential) documented within the 24-hour period prior the enrollment in the study * All fertile males and females receiving ribavirin must have effective contraception during treatment and during the 6 following months * Patient naive of treatment with installation of treatment by investigator following criteria for use Peginterferon alfa-2a (Pegasys) and ribavirin (Copegus) Exclusion Criteria: * Women with ongoing pregnancy or breast feeding * Male partner of pregnancy woman * Minor * Major protected by French law for biomedical study * Co-infection by HBV or HIV * History or other evidence of decompensated liver disease or Child-Pugh score \> 6 * Clinical or radiological evidence (abdominal ultrasound, CT scan or MRI) of hepatocellular carcinoma * IFN or ribavirin at any previous time * Patient who received an erythropoetin within 2 months before inclusion * History of epilepsy (during the last 6 months) * Chronic cardiac insufficiency (stage III or IV in classification from the New York Heart Association \[NYHA\]) * Not controlled portal hypertension * Antecedents or risk of venous thrombosis * Surgery within 3 months before inclusion * Serum creatinine level \>15 mg/mL (130µmol/L) * Deficiency in vitamin B9 and/or B12 (suspected with macrocytosis \> 105 µm3) * Thrombocytosis (platelets \> 500 000/mm3) * Chronic inflammatory syndrome (CRP \> 10 mg/L) * Deficiency not corrected in iron : * Ferritin blood level \< 10 µg/L Or - Transferrin saturation coefficient \< 20 % * History of neoplasia (except basocellular epithelioma and cervical cancer) * Contraindications to use epoetin beta or an excipient from molecule to study (urea, polysorbate 20, glycine, leucine, isoleucine, threonine, glutamic acid, phenylalanine, benzoic acid, benzyl alcohol) * Absence of written informed consent * Exclusion time for another biomedical study * Patient with blood concentration of hemoglobin lower or equal to 12 g/dL for male or lower or equal to 11 g/dL for female