Browsing by Subject "Liver neoplasms"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 16
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    A Novel Blood-Based Panel of Methylated DNA and Protein Markers for Detection of Early-Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma
    (Elsevier, 2021) Chalasani, Naga P.; Ramasubramanian, Tiruvidaimarudur S.; Bhattacharya, Abhik; Olson, Marilyn C.; Edwards, David K., V; Roberts, Lewis R.; Kisiel, John B.; Reddy, K. Rajender; Lidgard, Graham P.; Johnson, Scott C.; Bruinsma, Janelle J.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background & aims: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can be treated effectively if detected at an early stage. Recommended surveillance strategies for at-risk patients include ultrasound with or without α-fetoprotein (AFP), but their sensitivity is suboptimal. We sought to develop a novel, blood-based biomarker panel with improved sensitivity for early-stage HCC detection. Methods: In a multicenter, case-control study, we collected blood specimens from patients with HCC and age-matched controls with underlying liver disease but without HCC. Ten previously reported methylated DNA markers (MDMs) associated with HCC, methylated B3GALT6 (reference DNA marker), and 3 candidate proteins, including AFP, were assayed and analyzed by a logistic regression algorithm to predict HCC cases. The accuracy of the multi-target HCC panel was compared with that of other blood-based biomarkers for HCC detection. Results: The study included 135 HCC cases and 302 controls. We identified a multi-target HCC panel of 3 MDMs (HOXA1, EMX1, and TSPYL5), B3GALT6 and 2 protein markers (AFP and AFP-L3) with a higher sensitivity (71%, 95% CI: 60-81%) at 90% specificity for early-stage HCC than the GALAD score (41%, 95% CI: 30-53%) or AFP ≥7.32 ng/mL (45%, 95% CI: 33-57%). The AUC for the multi-target HCC panel for detecting any stage HCC was 0.92 compared with 0.87 for the GALAD score and 0.81 for AFP alone. The panel performed equally well in important subgroups based on liver disease etiology, presence of cirrhosis, or sex. Conclusions: We developed a novel, blood-based biomarker panel that demonstrates high sensitivity for early-stage HCC. These data support the potential for liquid biopsy detection of early-stage HCC to clinically benefit at-risk patients.
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    Changing Trends of Cirrhotic and Noncirrhotic Hepatocellular Carcinoma in the Era of Directly-Acting Antiviral Agents
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2021-11-03) Mathur, Karan; Mazhar, Areej; Patel, Milin; Dakhoul, Lara; Burney, Heather; Liu, Hao; Nephew, Lauren; Chalasani, Naga; deLemos, Andrew; Gawrieh, Samer; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Introduction: The impact of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for hepatitis C virus (HCV) on burden of cirrhotic and noncirrhotic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been examined. We assessed recent trends in liver disease etiologies of HCC and proportion of noncirrhotic HCC since DAAs introduction. Methods: Clinical characteristics including presence or absence of underlying cirrhosis were collected from 2,623 patients diagnosed with HCC between 2009 and 2019 at 2 large US centers. Logistic regression was performed to investigate the annual trends of HCC due to different liver diseases and proportions of noncirrhotic cases. Results: In the DAA era (2014-2019), annual decline in HCV-HCC (odds ratio [OR] = 0.93, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.88-0.99, P = 0.019), without change in trends of other liver diseases-related HCC, was observed. Annual increase in noncirrhotic HCC (OR 1.13, 95% CI 1.03-1.23, P = 0.009) and decline in cirrhotic HCC (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.81-0.97, P = 0.009) along with similar trends for HCV-HCC-increase in noncirrhotic cases (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.08-1.69, P = 0.009) and decrease in cirrhotic cases (OR 0.92, 95% CI 0.86-0.98, P = 0.012)-were observed during the DAA era. Compared with the pre-DAA era, HCC resection rate increased (10.7% vs 14.0%, P = 0.013) whereas liver transplantation rate decreased (15.1% vs 12.0%, P = 0.023) in the DAA era. Discussion: Since introduction of DAAs, proportions of cirrhotic HCC have decreased, whereas proportions of noncirrhotic HCC have increased. These new trends were associated with change in utilization of liver resection and transplantation for HCC. The impact of changing patterns of DAA use on these trends will require further study.
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    Disparities in Access to Liver Transplant Referral and Evaluation among Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Georgia
    (American Association for Cancer Research, 2024) Ross-Driscoll, Katherine; Ayuk-Arrey, Arrey-Takor; Lynch, Raymond; McCullough, Lauren E.; Roccaro, Giorgio; Nephew, Lauren; Hundley, Jonathan; Rubin, Raymond A.; Patzer, Rachel; Surgery, School of Medicine
    Liver transplantation offers the best survival for patients with early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Prior studies have demonstrated disparities in transplant access; none have examined the early steps of the transplant process. We identified determinants of access to transplant referral and evaluation among patients with HCC with a single tumor either within Milan or meeting downstaging criteria in Georgia.Population-based cancer registry data from 2010 to 2019 were linked to liver transplant centers in Georgia. Primary cohort: adult patients with HCC with a single tumor ≤8 cm in diameter, no extrahepatic involvement, and no vascular involvement. Secondary cohort: primary cohort plus patients with multiple tumors confined to one lobe. We estimated time to transplant referral, evaluation initiation, and evaluation completion, accounting for the competing risk of death. In sensitivity analyses, we also accounted for non-transplant cancer treatment.Among 1,379 patients with early-stage HCC in Georgia, 26% were referred to liver transplant. Private insurance and younger age were associated with increased likelihood of referral, while requiring downstaging was associated with lower likelihood of referral. Patients living in census tracts with ≥20% of residents in poverty were less likely to initiate evaluation among those referred [cause-specific hazard ratio (csHR): 0.62, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.42-0.94]. Medicaid patients were less likely to complete the evaluation once initiated (csHR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.32-0.89).Different sociodemographic factors were associated with each stage of the transplant process among patients with early-stage HCC in Georgia, emphasizing unique barriers to access and the need for targeted interventions at each step. Significance: Among patients with early-stage HCC in Georgia, age and insurance type were associated with referral to liver transplant, race, and poverty with evaluation initiation, and insurance type with evaluation completion. Opportunities to improve transplant access include informing referring providers about insurance requirements, addressing barriers to evaluation initiation, and streamlining the evaluation process.
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    Health disparities in chronic liver disease
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2023) Kardashian, Ani; Serper, Marina; Terrault, Norah; Nephew, Lauren D.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    The syndemic of hazardous alcohol consumption, opioid use, and obesity has led to important changes in liver disease epidemiology that have exacerbated health disparities. Health disparities occur when plausibly avoidable health differences are experienced by socially disadvantaged populations. Highlighting health disparities, their sources, and consequences in chronic liver disease is fundamental to improving liver health outcomes. There have been large increases in alcohol use disorder in women, racial and ethnic minorities, and those experiencing poverty in the context of poor access to alcohol treatment, leading to increasing rates of alcohol-associated liver diseases. Rising rates of NAFLD and associated fibrosis have been observed in Hispanic persons, women aged > 50, and individuals experiencing food insecurity. Access to viral hepatitis screening and linkage to treatment are suboptimal for racial and ethnic minorities and individuals who are uninsured or underinsured, resulting in greater liver-related mortality and later-stage diagnoses of HCC. Data from more diverse cohorts on autoimmune and cholestatic liver diseases are lacking, supporting the need to study the contemporary epidemiology of these disorders in greater detail. Herein, we review the existing literature on racial and ethnic, gender, and socioeconomic disparities in chronic liver diseases using a social determinants of health framework to better understand how social and structural factors cause health disparities and affect chronic liver disease outcomes. We also propose potential solutions to eliminate disparities, outlining health-policy, health-system, community, and individual solutions to promote equity and improve health outcomes.
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    HNRNPM Regulates HCC Tumorigenesis and Cancer Stemness: Identification of a Novel Therapeutic Target?
    (Elsevier, 2022) Kennedy, Lindsey; Medicine, School of Medicine
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    Liver gene therapy and hepatocellular carcinoma: A complex web
    (Elsevier, 2021) de Jong, Ype P.; Herzog, Roland W.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
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    Loss‐of‐Function Genetic Screening Identifies Aldolase A as an Essential Driver for Liver Cancer Cell Growth Under Hypoxia
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2021-09) Niu, Yi; Lin, Ziyou; Wan, Arabella; Sun, Lei; Yan, Shijia; Liang, Heng; Zhan, Siyue; Chen, Dongshi; Bu, Xianzhang; Liu, Peiqing; Chen, Ceshi; He, Weiling; Lu, Xiongbin; Wan, Guohui; Medical and Molecular Genetics, School of Medicine
    Background and aims: Hypoxia is a common feature of the tumor microenvironment (TME), which promotes tumor progression, metastasis, and therapeutic drug resistance through a myriad of cell activities in tumor and stroma cells. While targeting hypoxic TME is emerging as a promising strategy for treating solid tumors, preclinical development of this approach is lacking in the study of HCC. Approach and results: From a genome-wide CRISPR/CRISPR-associated 9 gene knockout screening, we identified aldolase A (ALDOA), a key enzyme in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, as an essential driver for HCC cell growth under hypoxia. Knockdown of ALDOA in HCC cells leads to lactate depletion and consequently inhibits tumor growth. Supplementation with lactate partly rescues the inhibitory effects mediated by ALDOA knockdown. Upon hypoxia, ALDOA is induced by hypoxia-inducible factor-1α and fat mass and obesity-associated protein-mediated N6 -methyladenosine modification through transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation, respectively. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas shows that elevated levels of ALDOA are significantly correlated with poor prognosis of patients with HCC. In a screen of Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs based on structured hierarchical virtual platforms, we identified the sulfamonomethoxine derivative compound 5 (cpd-5) as a potential inhibitor to target ALDOA, evidenced by the antitumor activity of cpd-5 in preclinical patient-derived xenograft models of HCC. Conclusions: Our work identifies ALDOA as an essential driver for HCC cell growth under hypoxia, and we demonstrate that inhibition of ALDOA in the hypoxic TME is a promising therapeutic strategy for treating HCC.
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    Patient-reported outcomes in HCC: A scoping review by the Practice Metrics Committee of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
    (Wolters Kluwer, 2022) Serper, Marina; Parikh, Neehar D.; Thiele, Grace; Ovchinsky, Nadia; Mehta, Shivang; Kuo, Alexander; Ho, Chanda; Kanwal, Fasiha; Volk, Michael; Asrani, Sumeet K.; Ghabril, Marwan S.; Lake, John R.; Merriman, Raphael B.; Morgan, Timothy R.; Tapper, Elliot B.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background and aims: HCC is a leading cause of mortality in patients with advanced liver disease and is associated with significant morbidity. Despite multiple available curative and palliative treatments, there is a lack of systematic evaluation of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in HCC. Approach and results: The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Practice Metrics Committee conducted a scoping review of PROs in HCC from 1990 to 2021 to (1) synthesize the evidence on PROs in HCC and (2) provide recommendations on incorporating PROs into clinical practice and quality improvement efforts. A total of 63 studies met inclusion criteria investigating factors associated with PROs, the relationship between PROs and survival, and associations between HCC therapy and PROs. Studies recruited heterogeneous populations, and most were cross-sectional. Poor PROs were associated with worse prognosis after adjusting for clinical factors and with more advanced disease stage, although some studies showed better PROs in patients with HCC compared to those with cirrhosis. Locoregional and systemic therapies were generally associated with a high symptom burden; however, some studies showed lower symptom burden for transarterial radiotherapy and radiation therapy. Qualitative studies identified additional symptoms not routinely assessed with structured questionnaires. Gaps in the literature include lack of integration of PROs into clinical care to guide HCC treatment decisions, unknown impact of HCC on caregivers, and the effect of palliative or supportive care quality of life and health outcomes. Conclusion: Evidence supports assessment of PROs in HCC; however, clinical implementation and the impact of PRO measurement on quality of care and longitudinal outcomes need future investigation.
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    Prospective Study of Outcomes in Adults with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease
    (Massachusetts Medical Society, 2021) Sanyal, Arun J.; Van Natta, Mark L.; Clark, Jeanne; Neuschwander-Tetri, Brent A.; Diehl, AnnaMae; Dasarathy, Srinivasan; Loomba, Rohit; Chalasani, Naga; Kowdley, Kris; Hameed, Bilal; Wilson, Laura A.; Yates, Katherine P.; Belt, Patricia; Lazo, Mariana; Kleiner, David E.; Behling, Cynthia; Tonascia, James; NASH Clinical Research Network (CRN); Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: The prognoses with respect to mortality and hepatic and nonhepatic outcomes across the histologic spectrum of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are not well defined. Methods: We prospectively followed a multicenter patient population that included the full histologic spectrum of NAFLD. The incidences of death and other outcomes were compared across baseline histologic characteristics. Results: A total of 1773 adults with NAFLD were followed for a median of 4 years. All-cause mortality increased with increasing fibrosis stages (0.32 deaths per 100 person-years for stage F0 to F2 [no, mild, or moderate fibrosis], 0.89 deaths per 100 persons-years for stage F3 [bridging fibrosis], and 1.76 deaths per 100 person-years for stage F4 [cirrhosis]). The incidence of liver-related complications per 100 person-years increased with fibrosis stage (F0 to F2 vs. F3 vs. F4) as follows: variceal hemorrhage (0.00 vs. 0.06 vs. 0.70), ascites (0.04 vs. 0.52 vs. 1.20), encephalopathy (0.02 vs. 0.75 vs. 2.39), and hepatocellular cancer (0.04 vs. 0.34 vs. 0.14). As compared with patients with stage F0 to F2 fibrosis, patients with stage F4 fibrosis also had a higher incidence of type 2 diabetes (7.53 vs. 4.45 events per 100 person-years) and a decrease of more than 40% in the estimated glomerular filtration rate (2.98 vs. 0.97 events per 100 person-years). The incidence of cardiac events and nonhepatic cancers were similar across fibrosis stages. After adjustment for age, sex, race, diabetes status, and baseline histologic severity, the incidence of any hepatic decompensation event (variceal hemorrhage, ascites, or encephalopathy) was associated with increased all-cause mortality (adjusted hazard ratio, 6.8; 95% confidence interval, 2.2 to 21.3). Conclusions: In this prospective study involving patients with NAFLD, fibrosis stages F3 and F4 were associated with increased risks of liver-related complications and death.
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    Radioembolization With Chemotherapy for Colorectal Liver Metastases: A Randomized, Open-Label, International, Multicenter, Phase III Trial
    (American Society of Clinical Oncology, 2021) Mulcahy, Mary F.; Mahvash, Armeen; Pracht, Marc; Montazeri, Amir H.; Bandula, Steve; Martin, Robert C. G., II; Herrmann, Ken; Brown, Ewan; Zuckerman, Darryl; Wilson, Gregory; Kim, Tae-You; Weaver, Andrew; Ross, Paul; Harris, William P.; Graham, Janet; Mills, Jamie; Yubero Esteban, Alfonso; Johnson, Matthew S.; Sofocleous, Constantinos T.; Padia, Siddharth A.; Lewandowski, Robert J.; Garin, Etienne; Sinclair, Philip; Salem, Riad; EPOCH Investigators; Radiology and Imaging Sciences, School of Medicine
    Purpose: To study the impact of transarterial Yttrium-90 radioembolization (TARE) in combination with second-line systemic chemotherapy for colorectal liver metastases (CLM). Methods: In this international, multicenter, open-label phase III trial, patients with CLM who progressed on oxaliplatin- or irinotecan-based first-line therapy were randomly assigned 1:1 to receive second-line chemotherapy with or without TARE. The two primary end points were progression-free survival (PFS) and hepatic PFS (hPFS), assessed by blinded independent central review. Random assignment was performed using a web- or voice-based system stratified by unilobar or bilobar disease, oxaliplatin- or irinotecan-based first-line chemotherapy, and KRAS mutation status. Results: Four hundred twenty-eight patients from 95 centers in North America, Europe, and Asia were randomly assigned to chemotherapy with or without TARE; this represents the intention-to-treat population and included 215 patients in the TARE plus chemotherapy group and 213 patients in the chemotherapy alone group. The hazard ratio (HR) for PFS was 0.69 (95% CI, 0.54 to 0.88; 1-sided P = .0013), with a median PFS of 8.0 (95% CI, 7.2 to 9.2) and 7.2 (95% CI, 5.7 to 7.6) months, respectively. The HR for hPFS was 0.59 (95% CI, 0.46 to 0.77; 1-sided P < .0001), with a median hPFS of 9.1 (95% CI, 7.8 to 9.7) and 7.2 (95% CI, 5.7 to 7.6) months, respectively. Objective response rates were 34.0% (95% CI, 28.0 to 40.5) and 21.1% (95% CI, 16.2 to 27.1; 1-sided P = .0019) for the TARE and chemotherapy groups, respectively. Median overall survival was 14.0 (95% CI, 11.8 to 15.5) and 14.4 months (95% CI, 12.8 to 16.4; 1-sided P = .7229) with a HR of 1.07 (95% CI, 0.86 to 1.32) for TARE and chemotherapy groups, respectively. Grade 3 adverse events were reported more frequently with TARE (68.4% v 49.3%). Both groups received full chemotherapy dose intensity. Conclusion: The addition of TARE to systemic therapy for second-line CLM led to longer PFS and hPFS. Further subset analyses are needed to better define the ideal patient population that would benefit from TARE.