Publications by authors named "Masashi Hirooka"
Background And Aims: This study prospectively compared the diagnostic accuracies of the improved Attenuation Measurement (iATT) algorithm and the Controlled Attenuation Parameter (CAP) and assessed the interchangeability of iATT with magnetic resonance imaging-derived proton density fat fraction (MRI-derived PDFF).
Methods: Patients with chronic liver disease were prospectively enrolled and underwent iATT, CAP and MRI-derived PDFF measurements for hepatic steatosis evaluation. According to MRI-derived PDFF values, steatosis grades were categorised as steatosis (S)0 (< 5.
Background: Direct measurement of portal venous pressure (PVP) is invasive, so the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) is commonly measured to evaluate portal hypertension (PH). HVPG is the gold standard for estimating PVP but few reports have covered standardized measurement techniques.
Methods: This study validated standardized techniques for PVP measurement.
Background: The clinical course of esophagogastric varices (EGV) after sustained virological response (SVR) with direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy has not been clearly elucidated. The predictors for the worsening/improvement of EGV after SVR with DAA therapy were investigated.
Methods: Of the cirrhosis patients who achieved SVR with DAA therapy, 328 patients who underwent endoscopic examinations both before and after DAA therapy were enrolled.
RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR) may have a positive regulatory role in controlling tumor growth and progression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the downstream substrates and the molecular mechanism of PKR in the growth and progression of HCC have not been clarified. In this study, mass spectrometry analysis was performed with immunoprecipitated samples, and 4.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Since the development of tremelimumab plus durvalumab (Dur/Tre) for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC), it has been used as not only an initial but also later line treatment in clinical practice. This study aimed to elucidate clinical prognostic factors for progression-free survival (PFS) in Dur/Tre treatment cases.
Methods: Enrolled were 183 uHCC patients treated with Dur/Tre from 2023 to May 2024 (median age, 74 years; male patients, 152; Child-Pugh class A:B, 150:33; Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B:C, 59:124; initial line use, 64).
Introduction: The most frequently used first-line treatment in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is atezolizumab plus bevacizumab. Upon progression after this treatment, the standard of care in many countries is sorafenib, due to the lack of reimbursement for other drugs. Several randomized trials are currently underway to clarify the best second-line therapy in patients with HCC.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- The text provides an English version of the 2018 guidelines for diagnosing and treating idiopathic portal hypertension, extrahepatic portal obstruction, and Budd-Chiari syndrome.
- These guidelines were developed by the Aberrant Portal Hemodynamics Study Group and are overseen by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare.
- The full guidelines contain 86 clinical questions and explanations, spanning 183 pages in Japanese.
Article Synopsis
- * A retrospective analysis of 885 HCC patients showed no significant differences in overall survival, time to progression, or disease control rates between viral and nonviral patients treated with the combination therapy.
- * Common prognostic factors were identified across both groups, but there might be some stronger associations between immunological factors and outcomes specifically in viral patients, while treatment-related toxicities and second-line treatments showed nearly identical results for both etiology subgroups.
Article Synopsis
- - This study investigates what factors predict conversion therapy success in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) and compares the survival outcomes of those who underwent conversion therapy to those with partial or complete responses after treatment with atezolizumab and bevacizumab.
- - Out of 946 uHCC patients studied, only 43 (4.5%) received conversion therapy, with a higher overall response rate in this group (65.1%) compared to those who did not undergo conversion therapy (23.7%), indicating a statistically significant difference.
- - Factors such as earlier BCLC stage, lack of macrovascular invasion or extrahepatic spread, and low neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio were found
Context: Estimated remnant cholesterol (Rem-C) level, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), is associated with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) diagnosed via ultrasonography. However, the relationship between accurate serum Rem-C level measurements and histological findings of MASLD remains unclear.
Objective: We aimed to elucidate the relationship between accurately measured serum Rem-C levels and histological findings of MASLD.
Background & Aims: Non-invasive models stratifying clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH) are limited. Herein, we developed a new non-invasive model for predicting CSPH in patients with compensated cirrhosis and investigated whether carvedilol can prevent hepatic decompensation in patients with high-risk CSPH stratified using the new model.
Methods: Non-invasive risk factors of CSPH were identified via systematic review and meta-analysis of studies involving patients with hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG).
Purpose: This retrospective study was conducted to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of ultrasound-derived fat fraction (UDFF) for grading hepatic steatosis using liver histology as the reference standard.
Methods: Seventy-three patients with liver disease were assessed using UDFF and liver biopsy. Pearson's test and the Bland-Altman plot were used to assess the correlation between UDFF and histological fat content in liver sections.
Background: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atezo/Bev) is frequently selected as the primary systemic therapy for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Aims: To investigate the outcomes of patients with HCC treated with Atezo/Bev in a real-world setting based on whether they met the inclusion criteria for the phase 3 IMbrave150 trial.
Methods: A total of 936 patients were enrolled.
Article Synopsis
- * The research identified independent prognostic factors affecting overall survival and progression-free survival, notably the severity of decreased appetite, immunotoxicity, diarrhea, fatigue, arterial hypertension, and proteinuria.
- * The findings underscore a significant relationship between the occurrence of AEs and therapy outcomes in HCC patients, similar to what has been observed in other treatment contexts, highlighting the importance of monitoring AEs for prognosis.
Aim: Advanced fibrosis has a strong influence on the occurrence of liver-related events in patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), while diabetes mellitus (DM), which is often complicated by MASLD, is associated with the progression of MASLD. We stratified patients with MASLD according to the severity of liver pathological findings and the presence of DM, aiming to examine whether these indices could be used to accurately assess the risk of developing liver-related events.
Methods: A total of 282 patients with liver biopsy-proven MASLD were included.
Article Synopsis
- The study examines changes in characteristics of hospitalized patients in Japan from 2010 to 2021, highlighting issues related to the country's aging population.
- Data from nearly 24,000 inpatients show an increase in patients aged over 75 and a rise in emergency admissions over the years.
- Notably, there was a decline in liver disease cases and a significant increase in biliary-pancreatic conditions and malignancies during the study period.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to develop a prognostic scoring system for patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) treated with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (Atez/Bev).
- A total of 719 patients were analyzed, examining factors such as BCLC classification, AFP level, and mALBI scores to create the IMABALI-De scoring system, which showed better predictive ability for overall and progression-free survival compared to the CRAFITY score.
- The IMABALI-De score demonstrated significant results, indicating it may be a more effective tool for predicting outcomes in patients undergoing this combination treatment for liver cancer.
Background & Aims: There is a need to reduce the screen failure rate (SFR) in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) clinical trials (MASH+F2-3; MASH+F4) and identify people with high-risk MASH (MASH+F2-4) in clinical practice. We aimed to evaluate non-invasive tests (NITs) screening approaches for these target conditions.
Methods: This was an individual participant data meta-analysis for the performance of NITs against liver biopsy for MASH+F2-4, MASH+F2-3 and MASH+F4.
Background: Several preliminary reports have suggested the utility of ultrasound attenuation coefficient measurements based on B-mode ultrasound, such as iATT, for diagnosing steatotic liver disease. Nonetheless, evidence supporting such utility is lacking. This prospective study aimed to investigate whether iATT is highly concordant with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based proton density fat fraction (MRI-PDFF) and could well distinguish between steatosis grades.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground/aim: Unresectable recurrence after curative treatments for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a life-limited event. Although the IMbrave050 trial (IM050) showed a favorable reduction in recurrence with adjuvant immune-combination chemotherapy, inclusion criteria of the radiofrequency ablation (RFA) group were lower risk than that of the resection group. This study aimed to elucidate the clinical features of patients treated with RFA, which really need adjuvant-chemotherapy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - The study examines the impact of Body Mass Index (BMI) on survival among patients with advanced liver cancer (HCC) undergoing first-line treatment with either atezolizumab plus bevacizumab or lenvatinib, focusing on underweight, normal-weight, and overweight classifications.
- - In a cohort of 1,292 patients, results indicated that underweight individuals had significantly shorter overall survival (OS) compared to normal-weight patients, while no significant differences in OS were observed between normal and overweight patients.
- - The research highlights the differing prognostic implications of BMI in cancer treatment, suggesting that underweight patients may require more focused clinical considerations in advanced HCC therapy.
Aim: This study aimed to establish the shear wave measurement (SWM) cut-off value for each fibrosis stage using magnetic resonance (MR) elastography values as a reference standard.
Methods: We prospectively analyzed 594 patients with chronic liver disease who underwent SWM and MR elastography. Correlation coefficients (were analyzed, and the diagnostic value was evaluated by the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.