Aspirin is associated with lower risk of pancreatic cancer and cancer-related mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Background: Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) have higher pancreatic cancer (PC) risk. While aspirin has chemopreventive effects on digestive cancers, its effect on PC among patients with T2DM is unclear.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study identified newly diagnosed adult patients with T2DM in Hong Kong between 2001 and 2015 from a territory-wide healthcare registry.

Risk of mortality between warfarin and direct oral anticoagulants: population-based cohort studies.

Background: Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been reported to be associated with a higher risk of mortality compared with an older alternative, warfarin using primary care data in the United Kingdom (UK). However, other studies observed contradictory findings. We therefore aimed to investigate the association between mortality and warfarin, compared with DOACs.

Relationship between Helicobacter pylori infection, osteoporosis, and fracture.

Osteoporotic fracture is a prevalent noncommunicable disease globally, causing significant mortality, morbidity, and disability. As the population ages, the healthcare and economic burden of osteoporotic fracture is expected to increase further. Due to its multifactorial features, the development of osteoporotic fracture involves a complex interplay of multiple risk factors, including genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors.

Glycaemic control is a modifiable risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma and liver-related mortality in patients with diabetes.

Background: Optimal glycaemic control has well-established health benefits in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). It is uncertain whether optimal glycaemic control can benefit liver-related outcomes.

Aims: To examine the association of optimal glycaemic control with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver-related mortality.

Baseline Gut Microbiota Was Associated with Long-Term Immune Response at One Year Following Three Doses of BNT162b2.

Background: This study explored neutralizing IgG antibody levels against COVID-19 decline over time post-vaccination. We conducted this prospective cohort study to investigate the function of gut microbiota in the host immune response following three doses of BNT162b2.

Methods: Subjects who received three doses of BNT162b2 were recruited from three centers in Hong Kong.

Effect of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease on BNT162b2 immunogenicity against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 omicron variant.

Background And Aim: We aimed to investigate the effect of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) on three-dose BNT162b2 immunogenicity to the omicron variant.

Methods: Adult recipients of three doses of BNT162b2 were prospectively recruited between May and December 2021. The serology of the neutralizing antibody by live virus microneutralization (vMN) to the omicron variant was measured at baseline, day 180, and day 360 after the first dose.

Synergistic association of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor and metformin on liver and non-liver complications in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

Objective: Type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (diabetic MASLD) frequently coexist and worsen liver and non-liver outcomes, but effective pharmacological therapies are limited. We aimed to evaluate the long-term effect of sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitor (SGLT-2i) on liver and non-liver outcomes among patients with diabetic MASLD.

Design: This population-based cohort study retrieved patients with diabetic MASLD from Merative Marketscan Research Databases (April 2013 and December 2021).

Balloon catheter-assisted endoscopic resection for papillary adenoma of non-exposed protruded type (with video).

Papillary adenomas, known precursors to papillary adenocarcinoma, warrant close monitoring due to their malignant potential. Historically, surgical resection represented the mainstay of treatment for papillary adenomas with intraductal extension. However, recent advancements in endoscopic techniques have facilitated the adoption of endoscopic papillectomy as a minimally invasive alternative in carefully selected cases.

Benefit and Harm of Aspirin on Mortality From Gastrointestinal Cancers Vs Bleeding in Helicobacter pylori-Eradicated Patients.

Background & Aims: We investigated the benefit-risk profile of aspirin on mortality reduction from chemoprevention of gastrointestinal (GI) cancer vs excess mortality from bleeding among Helicobacter pylori-eradicated patients, and its interaction with proton pump inhibitors (PPIs).

Methods: H pylori-eradicated patients (between 2003 and 2016), identified from a territory-wide database, were observed from the date of H pylori therapy until death or the end of the study (July 2020). Primary exposure was aspirin use as time-varying variable.

Proton pump inhibitors associated with severe COVID-19 among two-dose but not three-dose vaccine recipients.

Background And Aim: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) may increase the risk of COVID-19 among non-vaccinated subjects via various mechanisms, including gut dysbiosis. We aimed to investigate whether PPIs also affect the clinical outcomes of COVID-19 among vaccine recipients.

Methods: This was a territory-wide cohort study of 3 272 286 vaccine recipients (aged ≥ 18 years) of ≥ 2 doses of either BNT162b2 or CoronaVac.

Immediate postpartum cessation of tenofovir did not increase risk of virological or clinical relapse in highly viremic pregnant mothers with chronic hepatitis B infection.

Background & Aims: Peripartum prophylaxis (PP) with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is the standard of care to prevent mother-to-child transmission of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infection in mothers who are highly viremic. We investigated the maternal and infant outcomes in a large Chinese cohort of TDF-treated CHB pregnant participants.

Methods: In this prospective study, treatment-naive mothers with CHB and highly viremic (HBV DNA ≥200,000 IU/ml) but without cirrhosis were treated with TDF at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy.

Association between Gut Microbiota Composition and Long-Term Vaccine Immunogenicity following Three Doses of CoronaVac.

Background: Neutralizing antibody level wanes with time after COVID-19 vaccination. We aimed to study the relationship between baseline gut microbiota and immunogenicity after three doses of CoronaVac.

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study recruiting three-dose CoronaVac recipients from two centers in Hong Kong.

Low Bone Mineral Density as a Risk Factor for Liver Cirrhosis: A Prospective Cohort Study.

Context: Bone metabolism interplays with liver metabolism, also known as the liver-bone axis. Osteoporosis is a common complication of cirrhosis, but whether bone mineral density (BMD) can predict cirrhosis development is unknown.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the relationship between BMD and the risk of incident cirrhosis in the Hong Kong Osteoporosis Study (HKOS).

Optimal glycaemic control and the reduced risk of colorectal adenoma and cancer in patients with diabetes: a population-based cohort study.

Objective: Whether varying degrees of glycaemic control impact colonic neoplasm risk in patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) remains uncertain.

Design: Patients with newly diagnosed DM were retrieved from 2005 to 2013. Optimal glycaemic control at baseline was defined as mean haemoglobin A1c (HbA1c)<7%.

Effects of empagliflozin on liver fat in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease without diabetes mellitus: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background And Aims: We investigated whether empagliflozin reduces hepatic steatosis in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease without diabetes mellitus.

Approach And Results: This was an investigator-initiated, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial recruiting adult subjects from the community. Eligible subjects without diabetes mellitus (fasting plasma glucose < 7 mmol/L and HbA1c < 6.

Mortality in patients with chronic hepatitis B treated with tenofovir or entecavir: A multinational study.

Background And Aim: The benefits of entecavir (ETV) versus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) in reducing the development of chronic hepatitis B (CHB)-related hepatocellular carcinoma remain controversial. Whether mortality rates differ between patients with CHB treated with ETV and those treated with TDF is unclear.

Methods: A total of 2542 patients with CHB treated with either ETV or TDF were recruited from a multinational cohort.

The Predictive Value of Gut Microbiota Composition for Sustained Immunogenicity following Two Doses of CoronaVac.

CoronaVac immunogenicity decreases with time, and we aimed to investigate whether gut microbiota associate with longer-term immunogenicity of CoronaVac. This was a prospective cohort study recruiting two-dose CoronaVac recipients from three centres in Hong Kong. We collected blood samples at baseline and day 180 after the first dose and used chemiluminescence immunoassay to test for neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of wild-type SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Big data approach in the field of gastric and colorectal cancer research.

Big data is characterized by three attributes: volume, variety,, and velocity. In healthcare setting, big data refers to vast dataset that is electronically stored and managed in an automated manner and has the potential to enhance human health and healthcare system. In this review, gastric cancer (GC) and postcolonoscopy colorectal cancer (PCCRC) will be used to illustrate application of big data approach in the field of gastrointestinal cancer research.