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UNLABELLED: Quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (qHBsAg) and quantitative hepatitis B e antigen (qHBeAg) titers are emerging as useful tools for measuring viral loads and for predicting the virological response (VR) and serological response (SR) to pegylated interferon therapy. However, the clinical utility of these assays in patients taking entecavir (ETV) is largely unknown. Treatment-naive patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) who were taking ETV for 2 years were enrolled. The qHBsAg a

BACKGROUND: Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) has often been selected as a therapeutic option for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The objective of the current study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of repetitive HAIC with high-dose 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and cisplatin given for 3 days in patients with advanced HCC. METHODS: Between January 2001 and December 2004, a total of 41 patients with unresectable advanced HCC were enrolled. The patients underwent H

Different cutoff LSM values according to ALT level and combination with age-spleen-platelet ratio index can enhance the performance of LSM in CHB, regardless of ALT level.

LSM can be a useful predictor of LRE development in CHB patients showing histologically advanced liver fibrosis.

Current treatment guidelines suggest that antiviral therapy be considered for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with high viral load if a biopsy shows significant liver disease despite alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels two times or less than the upper limit of normal (ULN). We evaluated the histological findings in CHB patients with high viral load and persistently normal or slightly elevated serum ALT levels. Between January 2003 and June 2006, 105 consecutive treatment-naive patients with

CT and MRI provide clues to the diagnosis of IPT in patients with liver masses and normal tumor markers. However, due to the lack of pathognomonic findings, the clinician's suspicion and histological diagnosis are necessary to make an accurate diagnosis of IPT.

ARFI elastography provides additional information for the differential diagnosis of liver masses. However, our results should be interpreted in clinical context, because considerable overlap in ARFI values existed among liver masses.

AIM: Recently, the utility of tumor markers in the hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) field has received a good deal of attention. Here, we review and summarize the results of studies on the roles played by the α -fetoprotein (AFP) and prothrombin induced by the absence of vitamin K or antagonist-II (PIVKA-II) responses in terms of the monitoring of outcomes and prediction of prognosis after various HCC treatments. METHODS: Studies lodged in PUBMED and that satisfied our inclusion criteria were revi

The combination of LSM and API can avoid unnecessary invasive LB procedures in CHB patients.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) have been used as diagnostic tools for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, prediction of outcome using AFP and DCP has not been elucidated. We investigated the clinical role of AFP and DCP as predictors of treatment outcome in patients with HCC undergoing trans-arterial chemoembolization (TACE). METHODS: Between January 2003 and December 2005, we enrolled 115 treatment-naïve patients who received TACE as an ini

The lack of an appropriate preclinical model of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) that recapitulates the whole disease spectrum impedes exploration of disease pathophysiology and the development of effective treatment strategies. Here, we develop a mouse model (Streptozotocin with high-fat diet, STZ + HFD) that gradually develops fatty liver, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), hepatic fibrosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the context

Our results suggest that LSM or LSPI may be useful predictors of the development of HCC and hepatic decompensation in patients with CHB.

In CHB patients with advanced fibrosis receiving antiviral treatment, annual LS measurement revealed that fibrosis improvement slows but continues during treatment. Low LS value (<12.0 kPa) at baseline was a significant predictor for 5-year fibrosis improvement.

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) has recently been reported to predict the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We explored whether NLR predicted the survival of patients with HCC undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), and developed a predictive model. In total, 1697 patients with HCC undergoing TACE as first-line therapy at two university hospitals were enrolled (derivation set n = 921, internal validation set n = 395, external validation set n = 381). The tumor size

Lactobacillus is a probiotic with therapeutic potential for several diseases, including liver disease. However, the therapeutic effect of L. plantarum against nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and its underlying mechanisms remain unelucidated. Therefore, we delineated the L. plantarum-mediated NASH regulation in a mouse model to understand its therapeutic effect. We used a choline-deficient high-fat diet (CD-HFD)-induced murine model that recapitulated the critical features of human metabolic