The fifth Paris Hepatitis Conference (PHC) to be held on January 30 & 31, 2012, is a special edition dedicated to the management of patients with hepatitis C. Outstanding international experts will be reviewing the most up-to-date information and provide their personal recommendations for the clinical care of these patients. Recently, the management of chronic hepatitis C has benefitted from spectacular advances provided by the results of phase 3 studies of triple therapy with protease inhibitors, telaprevir or boceprevir, in naïve and experienced patients with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1. Thus, triple therapy has now become the new standard of care in this population of patients. However, many issues remain. What are the indications of triple therapy ? Is there still a role for the conventional treatment with the combination of pegylated interferon and ribavirin ? What are the predictors of response to triple therapy ? How to monitor patients in order to optimize treatment and to prevent resistance ? How to manage the side effects ? All these questions will be addressed through clinical cases, round table discussions, and interactive workshops. Current triple therapy is targeted to HCV genotype 1. However, in many countries, there are large, sometimes very predominant, populations infected with HCV non-1 genotypes. Several sessions and discussions will focus on the optimal management of patients infected with genotypes 2, 3, or 4. The therapy of hepatitis C is evolving rapidly. New antivirals and new combinations thereof are about to appear, either for genotype 1, or for other genotypes. The most recent studies will be presented and discussed to give the hepatologist the decision-making tools for the future. In addition, the meeting will devote specific sessions and workshops for those difficult-to-treat patient populations that require an individualized treatment approach. The aim of this 5th PHC is to provide clinicians with state-of-the-art information as well as highly practical and relevant clinical guidance to optimize the management of hepatitis C for the ultimate benefit and cure of as many patients as possible, worldwide.