Hepatology

The bile acid transport inhibitor maralixibat, given at a higher dose than previously tested, may significantly improve cholestasis in children with Alagille syndrome, shows the phase 2 ICONIC trial.

This independent news story was supported by an educational grant from L’Institut Servier, Suresnes, France.

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Clinicians monitoring patients for late recurrence after curative surgery for hepatocellular carcinoma should focus on the liver, say Chinese researchers who found few patients develop only extrahepatic disease in the first instance.

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Patients who receive antiviral therapy for more than 90 days prior to hepatectomy for hepatitis B virus-related hepatocellular carcinoma have a reduced risk for microvascular invasion and early tumor recurrence, Chinese research shows.

Researchers have developed and validated a score for predicting the risk for hepatocellular carcinoma in Asian patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection who are taking oral antiviral therapy.

Two meta-analyses published in the Journal of Viral Hepatitis confirm that patients with hepatitis B virus infection remain at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma even after achieving positive virologic outcomes, and identify factors associated with the risk.

More than 290 million people, or 3.9% of the global population, are infected with hepatitis B virus, and while efforts to combat infection are improving, greater access to diagnosis and treatment is needed to meet global targets, report The Polaris Observatory Collaborators.

Patients with previously treated advanced hepatocellular carcinoma may derive a survival advantage from treatment with the multikinase inhibitor cabozantinib, CELESTIAL trial results indicate.

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases has issued a guidance statement for chronic hepatitis B virus, covering topics ranging from screening and prevention through to the clinical management of patients.

Hepatitis B surface antigen levels at the end of treatment or prophylaxis with nucleos(t)ide analog inhibitors could be a useful indicator of hepatitis B virus relapse, suggest two Taiwanese studies.

Caucasian patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection who receive long-term therapy with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate or entecavir have “excellent” survival, which is comparable to that of the general population, say researchers.

Diabetes remains an independent risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection even after hepatitis B surface antigen seroclearance, findings indicate.

The noninvasive fibrosis-4 index can further refine the existing favorable clinical profile for hepatocellular carcinoma risk in noncirrhotic patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection and help identify those with the lowest risk, say researchers.

Serum hepatitis B virus RNA levels correlate with viral transcriptional activity and histologic changes in the livers of patients with chronic HBV who are receiving nucleos(t)ide analog therapy, Chinese researchers report.

Clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen with nucleos(t)ide analogs is as durable as spontaneous clearance in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, researchers report.

Hepatitis B virus infection is the leading cause of incident primary liver cancer and associated mortality worldwide, according to research published in JAMA Oncology.

Most patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection initially classed as partial responders to treatment with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate achieve a virologic response without additional treatment adjustment, research suggests.

Being in the immune tolerant phase of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is no assurance against the risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), requiring liver transplantation, or dying, say South Korean investigators.

Two research groups have developed noninvasive indices to detect significant fibrosis in treatment-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, one using serum levels of Golgi protein 73 and liver stiffness, and the other based on the ratio of gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase to albumin.