About the Authors

Thomas R. O'Brien

obrient@mail.nih.gov

Affiliation Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

James E. Everhart

Affiliation Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

Timothy R. Morgan

Affiliations Division of Gastroenterology, University of California Irvine, Irvine, California, United States of America, Gastroenterology Service, VA Long Beach Healthcare System, Long Beach, California, United States of America

Anna S. Lok

Affiliation Division of Gastroenterology, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States of America

Raymond T. Chung

Affiliation Gastrointestinal Unit, Medical Services, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

Yongwu Shao

Affiliation Information Management Services, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America

Mitchell L. Shiffman

Affiliation Liver Institute of Virginia, Bon Secours Health System, Newport News, Virginia, United States of America

Myhanh Dotrang

Affiliation CSC, Rockville, Maryland, United States of America

John J. Sninsky

Affiliation Celera Corporation, Alameda, California, United States of America

Herbert L. Bonkovsky

Affiliations Departments of Medicine and Molecular & Structural Biology and The Liver-Biliary-Pancreatic Center, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut, United States of America, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America

Ruth M. Pfeiffer

Affiliation Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Bethesda, Maryland, United States of America

and the HALT-C Trial Group

Competing Interests

The authors wish to report the following relationships that might appear to represent a potential conflict: John J. Sninsky is employed by Celera Corporation, Alameda. T. R. Morgan is on the speaker's bureau and receives research support from Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc.; is a consultant, serves on an advisory board, and receives research support from Vertex Pharmaceuticals; serves on an advisory board for Gilead Sciences; and receives research support from Merck, Schering Plough Corporation, and WAKO Diagnostics. A. S. Lok is a consultant for Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., Abbott and Gilead; and receives research support from Schering-Plough Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Gilead and Eisai Pharmaceuticals. R. T. Chung receives research support from Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc.; receives research support from Schering-Plough, Novartis, and Romark; and is a consultant for Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Merck, Pfizer, Astellas, Novartis, and Gilead. M. L. Shiffman is a consultant for Celera Corporation, Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., and National Genome Sciences; has attended advisor meetings with Anadys, Biolex, Bristol-Myers-Squibb, Conatus, Globeimmune, Human Genome Sciences, Novartis, Roche, Romark, Pfizer, Schering-Plough, Valeant, Vertex and Zymogenetics; is a speaker for Roche and Schering-Plough; is on the data safety monitoring boards with Abbott and Anadys; and has received research support from Biolex, Conatus, Glaxo SmithKline, Globeimmune, Human Genome Sciences, Idenix, Roche, Romark, Tibotec, Valeant, Vertex, Wyeth and Zymogenetics. J. J. Sninsky is an employee of Celera Corporation. H. L. Bonkovsky receives research support from Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc.; is a consultant for Boehringer-Ingelheim; is a consultant and on the advisory board for Clinuvel, Inc.; is a consultant, advisory board member and receives research support from Novartis Pharmaceuticals; is a consultant and on the speakers' bureau for Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals; and receives research support from Vertex Pharmaceuticals. There are no patents, products in development or marketed products to declare. This does not alter the authors' adherence to all the PLoS ONE policies on sharing data and materials. Authors with no financial relationships related to this project are: T. R. O'Brien, J. E. Everhart, Y. Shao, M. Dotrang, and R. M. Pfeiffer.

Author Contributions

Conceived and designed the experiments: TRO JEE TRM RTC JJS HLB RMP. Performed the experiments: JEE TRM ASL RTC MLS JJE HLB. Analyzed the data: TRO JEE TRM ASL RTC YS MLS MD JJS HLB RMP. Wrote the paper: TRO JEE TRM ASL RTC MLS MD JJS HLB RMP.