Hepatology Research : the Official Journal of the Japan Society of Hepatology

AIM: We aimed to evaluate the association between the intraoperative indocyanine green (ICG) fluorescence imaging (FI) pattern, preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings using gadolinium ethoxybenzyl diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid (Gd-EOB-DTPA), preoperative diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) of MRI and histological differentiation of HCC. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the data for 80 tumors of 64 patients. ICG FI patterns were classified into cancerous or rim-positive type...

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BACKGROUND: Chemotherapy for colorectal liver metastasis has improved dramatically over the past few decades. However, sinusoidal obstruction syndrome induced by oxaliplatin leads to increased severe morbidity after hepatectomy for colorectal liver metastasis. Autotaxin is a novel liver fibrosis marker known to be taken up and metabolized by sinusoidal endothelial cells. This study aimed to evaluate whether Autotaxin levels could be a novel surrogate marker of sinusoidal obstruction syndrome for colorectal liver metastasis...

AIM: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been reported to cause liver steatosis. Thus, eradicating HCV with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) is expected to reduce liver steatosis. We aimed to clarify long-term changes in the prevalence of fatty liver and hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia and their associations in patients who achieve successful HCV eradication using DAAs. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients with HCV who achieved sustained virological response (SVR) after interferon-free DAA and analyzed the changes in the prevalence of fatty liver diagnosed with controlled attenuation parameter (CAP), hyper-LDL-cholesterolemia, and their relationships at baseline (n=100) and 24 weeks (SVR24, n=100), 96 weeks (SVR96, n=100), and 144 weeks (SVR144, n=90) after DAA...

BACKGROUND: Developing effective adjuvant therapies is essential for improving the surgical outcomes in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Immunotherapy against HCC has become a promising strategy; however, only approximately 30% of all HCC patients respond to immunotherapy. Previously, we generated the novel therapeutic vaccine comprising multi-HLA-binding heat shock protein (HSP)70/glypican-3 (GPC3) peptides with a novel adjuvant combination of hLAG-3Ig and poly-ICLC. We also confirmed the safety of this vaccination therapy, as well as its capacity for the effective induction of immune responses in a previous clinical trial...

BACKGROUND: The anti-diabetic drugs sodium glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) and thiazolidinediones have beneficial effects on the liver dysfunction of patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We aimed to determine the efficacy of these drugs for the treatment of liver disease in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and T2DM. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study of 568 patients with MAFLD and T2DM...

AIMS: Both diet and exercise counseling are recommended for patients with fatty liver, including NAFLD, to achieve weight loss goals. However, data evaluating treatment efficacy are limited. METHODS: The subjects of this retrospective cohort study were 186 consecutive Japanese cases with fatty liver diagnosed by abdominal ultrasonography. Treatment efficacy and predictive factors of "Hospitalization Program for Improvement Purpose for Fatty Liver" as a combined diet and aerobic and resistance exercise program were evaluated according to hospitalization group (153 cases) or no hospitalization group (33 cases)...

AIM: It is unclear whether prognosis differs by age for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to examine prognosis and recurrence after radiofrequency ablation (RFA) for early-stage HCC and to determine its prognostic factors for different age groups. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled 1079 patients with initial early-stage HCC treated with RFA at two institutions. All patients in this study were divided into four groups: <70 years old (group1, n=483), 70-74 years old (group2, n=198), 75-79 years old (group3, n=201), and ≥80 years old (group4, n=197)...

AIM: Hepatic zonation is a physiological feature of the liver, known to be key in the regulation of the metabolism of nutrients and xenobiotics and the biotransformation of numerous substances. However, the reproduction of this phenomenon remains challenging in vitro as only part of the processes involved in the orchestration and maintenance of zonation are fully understood. The recent advances in organ-on-chip technologies, which allow for the integration of multicellular 3D tissues in a dynamic microenvironment could offer solutions for the reproduction of zonation within a single culture vessel...

AIM: To compare patient characteristics and outcomes between the overall and Japanese populations of GLIMMER. METHODS: GLIMMER was a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, Phase 2b study evaluating linerixibat for the treatment of pruritus in patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC). RESULTS: A total of 147 patients were randomized in the GLIMMER overall population with 38 patients comprising the Japanese population...

INTRODUCTION: Primary hepatic angiosarcoma (PHA) is extremely rare, and its imaging findings are similar to those of other liver tumors including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we report a case of hepatitis C virus (HCV)-related HCC followed by PHA that showed remarkable clinical response to Atezolizumab plus Bevacizumab (Atezo/Bev) therapy. CASE REPORT: A 78-year-old man with recurred HCC had a liver tumor with lymphadenopathy. Although considered as HCC recurrence, microscopic examination of the resected liver and lymph node showed PHA...

The 5th version of the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Hepatocellular Carcinoma was revised by the Japan Society of Hepatology, according to the methodology of evidence-based medicine and partly to the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system, which was published in October 2021 in Japanese. In addition to surveillance-diagnostic and treatment algorithms, a new algorithm for systemic therapy has been created, as multiple drugs for hepatocellular carcinoma can be currently selected...

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of steroids on ischemic complications after radiofrequency ablation (RFA). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty-eight patients with ischemic complications were divided into two groups according to corticosteroid use or non-use. RESULTS: Thirteen patients who were administered steroids had a shorter duration of fever than those who were not administered steroids (median, 6.0 days vs. 2.0 days; P < 0...

AIM: Agile 3+ and Agile 4 scores, based on liver stiffness measurement (LSM) by transient elastography and clinical parameters, were recently reported to be effective in identifying advanced fibrosis and cirrhosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). This study aimed to validate the utility of these scores in Japanese patients with NAFLD. METHODS: Six hundred forty-one patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD were analyzed. The severity of liver fibrosis was pathologically evaluated by one expert pathologist...

AIM: Differential metabolic risk factors of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in non-obese adolescent males were analyzed examining relationships between NAFLD and clinical parameters of metabolic syndrome, including exercise and soft drink consumption, in adolescent males. METHODS: In total, 134 male university students (non-obese, n = 78; obese, n = 56) who underwent the first-year health checkup were divided into the NAFLD and non-NAFLD groups based on abdominal ultrasonography (AUS) findings...

AIM: Recent advances in treatment modalities have been made, limiting the indication of hepatic resection in the treatment strategy for HCC patients. This retrospective study investigated the significance of multiplication of tumor maximum diameter and number (MDN) as a surgical indicator for BCLC intermediate-stage HCC. METHODS: Forty-nine patients with BCLC intermediate-stage HCC who underwent curative hepatic resection between 2000 and 2020 were enrolled in this study...

AIM: The association of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) with metabolic disorders has been well studied. However, whether fasting serum fructose is associated with metabolic dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is unknown. METHODS: Participants were enrolled from 2011 to 2012 in Shanghai. Fasting serum fructose concentration was measured with a validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry method. RESULTS: A total of 954 participants without diabetes were included...

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atez/Bev) therapy is expected to have good therapeutic efficacy for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the clinical indicators which predict therapeutic efficacy have not been established. We retrospectively investigated whether the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) during Atez/Bev therapy could predict therapeutic efficacy. DESIGN: A total of 110 HCC patients were enrolled; they were treated with Atez/Bev therapy and evaluated for their initial response by dynamic CT or MRI at least once between October 2020 and July 2022...

AIM: The hemoglobin, albumin, lymphocyte, and platelet (HALP) score reflects the immune system and the nutritional status of patients, and prognosis in various cancers. However, the HALP score in hepatocellular carcinoma has not been reported. METHODS: Data were analyzed retrospectively from Child-Pugh A patients undergoing hepatic resection for single hepatocellular carcinoma ≤5 cm. For cross-validation, patients were divided into the training (332 patients) and validation cohort (210 patients)...

AIM: Impacts of platelet counts at the time of liver biopsy on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) remain unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the prognostic value of platelet counts in patients with biopsy-confirmed NAFLD using data from a multicenter study. METHODS: 1398 patients were included in this sub-analysis of the CLIONE (Clinical Outcome Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease) in Asia study...