Poor Tolerability of Lenvatinib in Elderly Patients with Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma after Disease Progression following First-Line Atezolizumab Plus Bevacizumab: A Multicenter Study.

Introduction: We investigated the effectiveness of lenvatinib (LEN) after disease progression following first-line treatment with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atez/Bev) in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: One hundred and ten HCC patients treated with Atez/Bev as first-line systemic chemotherapy were enrolled and underwent dynamic computerized tomography/magnetic resonance imaging to determine the treatment response. We evaluated the treatment efficacy and prognosis after second-line LEN treatment, especially in elderly patients.

Prognostic Nutritional Index after Introduction of Atezolizumab with Bevacizumab Predicts Prognosis in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Multicenter Study.

Introduction: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atez/Bev) is the preferred treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, biomarkers of therapeutic efficacy have remained unclear. We took a retrospective approach to explore the role of prognostic nutritional index (PNI) for predicting the outcomes of Atez/Bev treatment.

The neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio at the start of the second course during atezolizumab plus bevacizumab therapy predicts therapeutic efficacy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma: A multicenter analysis.

Aim: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atez/Bev) therapy is expected to have good therapeutic efficacy for patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the clinical indicators that 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.

Outcome of nucleos(t)ide analog cessation in patients with treatment for prevention of or against hepatitis B virus reactivation.

Aim: We retrospectively investigated patients with administration of nucleos(t)ide analogs (NAs) for prevention of or against hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation, and their clinical outcomes after cessation of the NA.

Methods: We enrolled 180 patients who were positive for HBsAg when they started immunosuppressive therapy or chemotherapy and an NA was administered to prevent HBV reactivation (HBV carrier group), and 82 patients with resolved HBV infection who started administration of an NA after HBV reactivation (de novo HBV group). Cessation of the NA depended on each physician's judgment without definite criteria.

Impaired cytotoxic T lymphocyte inductivity by dendritic cells derived from patients with hepatitis C virus-positive hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: Peptide-based therapeutic vaccines are being developed. The aim of this study was to determine the feasibility of immunotherapy to hepatitis C virus (HCV)-positive hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by assessing the inductivity of peptide-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) by dendritic cells.

Methods: The inductivity of CTL was characterized in six patients with HCV-positive HCC, and compared to seven healthy volunteers and six patients with chronic HCV hepatitis (control).

Spatial and chronological differences in hepatitis B virus genotypes from patients with acute hepatitis B in Japan.

Genotypes of hepatitis B virus (HBV) were determined in 485 patients with acute hepatitis B from all over Japan. They were A in 92 (19%), Ba in 26 (5%), Bj in 32 (7%), C in 330 (68%) and D in 5 (1%). Sexual contacts were the main route of transmission in them.

Influence of genotypes and precore mutations on fulminant or chronic outcome of acute hepatitis B virus infection.

The outcome of acute hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is variable, influenced by host and viral factors. From 1982 through 2004, 301 patients with acute HBV infection entered a multi-center cross-sectional study in Japan. Patients with fulminant hepatitis (n = 40) were older (44.

Relationship between Doppler transmitral flow velocity pattern and plasma atrial and brain natriuretic peptide concentrations in anuric patients on maintenance hemodialysis.

Plasma atrial (ANP) and brain (BNP) natriuretic peptide levels were compared to determine if transmitral flow velocity pattern is an instantaneous marker of body fluid balance in anuric patients on hemodialysis (HD). We measured plasma ANP and BNP levels and performed Doppler echocardiography in 38 anuric patients before and after HD. Patients with valvular disease, left ventricular systolic dysfunction having a fractional shortening < 0.

Molecular epidemiology of hepatitis B virus in the United Republic of Tanzania.

In the United Republic of Tanzania, 457 voluntary blood donors were enrolled in hepatitis B virus (HBV) serological screening; 4.8% (22/457) carried HBsAg, 13.6% (3/22) of whom were HBeAg-positive.

Novel subtypes (subgenotypes) of hepatitis B virus genotypes B and C among chronic liver disease patients in the Philippines.

Several hepatitis B virus (HBV) subtypes (subgenotypes), HBV/Aa (A1 : Asia/Africa), Ae (A2 : Europe), Bj (B1 : Japan) and Ba (B2 : Asia), have been reported with respect to clinical differences between patients infected with these subtypes (subgenotypes). HBV genotype distribution among patients with chronic liver diseases was investigated in the Philippines, where such studies have not been carried out previously. One hundred sera were obtained from such patients, consisting of 32 chronic hepatitis (CH), 37 cirrhosis and 31 hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients.

Secondary hemophagocytic syndrome in a patient with methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus Aureus bacteremia due to severe decubitus ulcer.

A 51-year-old man with poliomyelitis was admitted to emergency because of a severe decubitus ulcer on his right hip that was associated with infection. His general condition deteriorated and he was malnourished and dehydrated. Despite adequate hyperalimentation and antibiotic administration, laboratory data indicated pancytopenia 4 days later.

Distribution of HBV genotypes among HBV carriers in Benin:phylogenetic analysis and virological characteristics of HBV genotype E.

Aim: To determine the distribution of Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes in Benin, and to clarify the virological characteristics of the dominant genotype.

Methods: Among 500 blood donors in Benin, 21 HBsAg-positive donors were enrolled in the study. HBV genotypes were determined by enzyme immunoassay and restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Detection of anti-hepatitis C virus effects of interferon and ribavirin by a sensitive replicon system.

Although combination therapy with interferon and ribavirin has improved the treatment for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, the detailed anti-HCV effect of ribavirin in clinical concentrations remains uncertain. To detect the anti-HCV effect of ribavirin in lower concentrations, a sensitive and accurate assay system was developed using the reporter replicon system with an HCV genotype 2a subgenomic replicon (clone JFH-1) that exhibits robust replication in various cell lines. This reporter replicon was generated by introducing the luciferase reporter gene (instead of the neomycin resistance gene) into the subgenomic JFH-1 replicon.

Two subtypes (subgenotypes) of hepatitis B virus genotype C: A novel subtyping assay based on restriction fragment length polymorphism.

Recently hepatitis B virus genotype C (HBV/C) has been classified into geographically typical two subtypes (subgenotypes); HBV/C1 in Southeast Asia (Cs) and HBV/C2 in East Asia (Ce). Our aim is to develop a rapid subtyping assay and to examine the virological features of these two subtypes. Based on 171 HBV/C strains retrieved from the database, 17 single nucleotides polymorphisms (SNPs) were found between two subtypes.

Hepatitis B virus genotype G is an extremely rare genotype in Japan.

BACKGROUND:: Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been classified into seven genotypes (A-G). HBV genotypes have a geographically characteristic distribution. Since HBV genotype G (HBV/G) was identified recently, little is known about the distribution of HBV/G in Japan.