October 14, 2023
4 min read
Liver Cancer Awareness Month, celebrated every October, aims to raise awareness of the third most deadly cancer in the United States, which accounts for approximately 41,000 new cases and up to 30,000 deaths each year.
To educate physicians on liver cancer management and prevention while providing assistance to patients affected by liver cancer, Global Liver Institute has launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #OctoberIs4Livers.
The #OctoberIs4Livers campaign builds on the Liver Cancer Course educational series and in-depth conversations with liver cancer experts to unite the global liver cancer community of patients, survivors, caregivers, advocates and experts to create an open conversation around liver cancer and bring people’s lives to the forefront. Awareness brought to the forefront.
“There is no excuse for the devastation liver cancer wreaks on so many patients and their families when early diagnosis and preventive measures can prevent the vast majority of tragedies.” Donna R. Clair, J.D.founder and CEO of the Global Liver Institute said in a press release. “Political will and concerted investment in liver health will turn the tide. “We are excited to work with our global partners to build on this momentum every day – especially throughout October. “
In honor of Liver Cancer Awareness Month, Healio reviews the latest news and research on interventions and integrated care that may have an impact on patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, including cost-effective HCC surveillance thresholds, how behavioral data can predict Patients at risk for liver cancer, the potential benefits of robotic hepatectomy, and the need for policies to curb the increasing costs of liver cancer care.
Lowering HCC incidence thresholds in guidelines is cost-effective and could improve early detection
Studies have shown that hepatocellular carcinoma surveillance is cost-effective with a lower incidence threshold of 0.7% in virologically cured HCV patients, underscoring the need for updated clinical guidelines.
“Hepatitis C treatment represents a cure, but some patients remain at risk of developing HCC, the most common form of liver cancer,” Dr. Jaipreet Chatwal, director of the Institute for Technology Assessment at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, told Healio. “Clinical guidelines recommend routine screening for HCC if the annual incidence of HCC exceeds 1.5%. This recommendation is based on old data; therefore, we examined contemporary incidence thresholds above which routine HCC screening is cost-effective .” read more.
Treating ‘workable’ hepatitis C in HCC patients improves overall survival
Failure to achieve a sustained virological response and the presence of more severe chronic liver disease are associated with mortality in patients with hepatitis C and hepatocellular carcinoma, a researcher at the EASL Congress said.
“Achieving a sustainable virological response after hepatitis C treatment is known to reduce hepatic decompensation and liver cancer development, with a positive impact on overall survival,” Maria Fernanda Guerra Veloz, MD, PhD, said a professor at the Liver Institute at King’s College London. “All of these benefits in reducing liver-related morbidity/mortality and non-liver-related mortality have been described in the interferon era and have been favored across the disease spectrum with direct-acting antiviral treatments since then. boycotted.” Read more.
Behavioral data ‘has potential’ to predict liver cancer in hepatitis B patients
A scoring system based on behavioral and clinical data is better than existing scores in predicting the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection, according to data presented at the EASL Congress.
“The natural history of HCC begins with fibrosis, leading to cirrhosis and then progression to HCC,” Clemens Ramiel, MS, said a doctoral student at Aix-Marseille University. “Certain behaviors may impair or promote liver disease progression. …Therefore, behavioral interventions are needed to prevent the development of HCC. To date, there are 32 HCC prediction models, each with its own score. Only seven have Validated among white people.” Read more.
Q&A: More research and policy needed to ‘curb rising cost of liver cancer care’
Cancer-related financial burden is “significantly higher” in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma compared with patients with cirrhosis, according to data published in the Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Analyze patient liabilities and Medicare payments in the first year after HCC diagnosis, Amit Singhal, MD, Medical director of the Liver Oncology Program and clinical director of hepatology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and colleagues used the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program Medicare database to identify 4,525 adults diagnosed with HCC between 2011 and 2015. . The researchers also generated a preference for a matched cohort of patients with cirrhosis as a comparison group. read more.
Robotic hepatectomy for HCC reduces hospital stay and ICU admission
Robotic liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma results in better perioperative tolerability and may be a safe and effective alternative to open liver resection, according to research published in the Journal of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Jama surgery.
“In some cases, open liver resection may still be preferred as an oncologically adequate procedure (for HCC). Another minimally invasive liver resection is robotic liver resection (RLR), which also The risk of conversion to open liver resection (OLR) during complex liver resections may be reduced.” Fabrizio di Benedetto, MD, PhD, write the Director of the Department of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery and Liver Transplantation at the Universities of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy, and colleagues. “Despite these technical advantages, long-term oncological outcomes of robotic surgery remain a hotly debated topic in surgical oncology, as few data have been published to date.” Read more.
Type 2 diabetes increases the risk of liver decompensation and liver cancer in patients with NAFLD
Data show that type 2 diabetes is an independent predictor of liver decompensation and the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.
“Previous studies have shown that type 2 diabetes is associated with liver decompensation in patients with cirrhosis, hepatitis C virus, and heavy alcohol consumption,” Daniel Huang, MBBS, A visiting scholar at the UC San Diego NAFLD Research Center and colleagues in this Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology. “However, the risk of hepatic decompensation (the development of ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, or variceal bleeding) in NAFLD patients with and without type 2 diabetes has not been systematically evaluated.” Read More
One in ten patients with advanced liver disease develops liver-related events after HCV cure
The risk of hepatic decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma remains unchanged after hepatitis C virus cure in patients with advanced chronic liver disease, emphasizing the need for long-term post-HCV risk stratification.
“Currently, more than 1 million people are receiving treatment for HCV each year; therefore, we need appropriate risk stratification to reduce resource utilization.” George Semler, MD, Chairman of the Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Medical University of Vienna said at the EASL Congress. “Compensated advanced chronic liver disease, also commonly referred to as compensated cirrhosis, is a target population for risk stratification tools because these patients are at risk for complications such as hepatic decompensation or hepatocellular carcinoma.” Read More .
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