[HCC TRANSPLANT CANDIDATES' SURVIVAL ON THE WAITING LIST - CAN ORGAN UTILIZATION BE IMPROVED?].

Introduction: Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receive Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) prioritization points. These aim to prevent waiting list drop-out due to tumor progression. This practice has resulted in an imbalance in the access of HCC vs.

Gender specific survival rates after deceased donor liver transplantation: A retrospective cohort.

Background: According to the literature, there are sex allocation inequalities in liver transplantation (LT). Sex disparities in outcomes after LT have been debated. This study aimed to evaluate sex-specific outcomes after LT, specifically short-term mortality and long-term survival rates.

[¹¹C] choline as a potential PET/CT biomarker of liver cirrhosis: A prospective pilot study.

Aim Of The Study: To compare [¹¹C] choline PET/CT findings between patients with cirrhosis and normal liver controls.

Methods: Included 11 patients with cirrhosis and 14 controls. All underwent a dynamic [11C] choline PET/CT.

Response guided therapy for reducing duration of direct acting antivirals in chronic hepatitis C infected patients: a Pilot study.

The advent of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) has transformed the landscape of hepatitis C virus (HCV) management. We aimed to prospectively (real-time) evaluate the feasibility of using a response-guided therapy approach, based on mathematical modeling of early viral kinetics, to reduce the duration of DAAs therapy. Patients were treated with DAAs according to the physicians' preference.

Liver steatosis is a major predictor of poor outcomes in chronic hepatitis C patients with sustained virological response.

Sustained virological response (SVR) results in reduced incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and mortality among chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients with advanced fibrosis. Since both advanced fibrosis and liver steatosis (LS) may coexist in CHC patients, we evaluated their individual effects on a composite outcome of all-cause mortality and HCC in CHC patients with SVR following direct-acting antivirals (DAA) treatment. We retrospectively evaluated inception cohort of 515 CHC patients who achieved SVR following treatment with DAA, with a mean follow-up of 24 months.

High frequency of multiclass HCV resistance-associated mutations in patients failing direct-acting antivirals: real-life data.

Background: Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy has dramatically increased sustained virological response rates in HCV-infected patients. However, resistance-associated substitutions (RAS) interfering with NS3- and NS5A-targeted therapy, still emerge. This real-life study analysed the type and frequency of RAS in rare cases of patients failing DAA regimens in 12 clinical centres in Israel.

Noninvasive scoring systems predict hepatic and extra-hepatic cancers in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.

Background: Liver fibrosis predicts liver-related morbidity and mortality in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Non-invasive scores correlate with the degree of liver fibrosis in these patients.

Aims And Methods: To investigate the accuracy of noninvasive scoring systems in predicting long-term outcomes and cancer incidence of patients with NAFLD, we performed a single-center retrospective study of patients with biopsy proven NAFLD.

The Pattern of Elevated Liver Function Tests in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease Predicts Fibrosis Stage and Metabolic-Associated Comorbidities.

Background: Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and with abnormal liver function tests (LFTs) most commonly present with elevated hepatocellular enzymes (H pattern), but a subset of patients is found to have elevated cholestatic enzymes (C pattern) or a mixed (M) pattern.

Aims And Methods: To determine whether the epidemiologic background and comorbidities, as well as the degree of liver fibrosis, differ between NAFLD patients with different patterns of elevated LFTs by retrospectively analyzing data of 106 patients with a biopsy-proven diagnosis of NAFLD. The pattern of elevated LFTs was determined by adopting the "R-Ratio" formula commonly used for drug-induced liver injury.

Characterization of hepatitis B and delta coinfection in Israel.

Background: Characteristics of hepatitis B (HBV) and delta (HDV) coinfection in various geographical regions, including Israel, remain unclear. Here we studied HDV seroprevalence in Israel, assessed HDV/HBV viral loads, circulating genotypes and hepatitis delta antigen (HDAg) conservation.

Methods: Serological anti HDV IgG results from 8969 HBsAg positive individuals tested in 2010-2015 were retrospectively analyzed to determine HDV seroprevalence.

Stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) for definitive treatment and as a bridge to liver transplantation in early stage inoperable Hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background And Purpose: Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) is an emerging modality for definitive treatment of Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study included all early stage HCC patients who were not candidates for primary resection and/or local therapy, treated with SBRT between 11/2011 and 1/2016.

Results: Twenty-three patients were included.

HCV genotype-1 subtypes and resistance-associated substitutions in drug-naive and in direct-acting antiviral treatment failure patients.

Background: Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment regimens and response rates of patients with HCV genotype-1 (GT1) are currently considered subtype-dependent. Identification of clinically relevant resistance-associated substitutions (RASs) in the NS3 and NS5A proteins at baseline and in DAA failures, may also impact clinical decisions.

Methods: In a multicentre cohort study (n=308), NS3 or NS5B sequencing (n=248) was used to discriminate between GT1 subtypes.

Radiotherapy and Sorafenib in the Management of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Have Led to Improved Survival: A Single Center Experience.

Background & Aims: Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most common malignancy and the third most common cause of cancer mortality worldwide. We aimed to assess the effect of novel treatment options on the survival of HCC patients.

Methods: This retrospective study included all HCC patients diagnosed between 2000 and 2013 referred to the Davidoff center and treated by a multidisciplinary team.

Hepatocyte growth factor enhances alternative splicing of the Kruppel-like factor 6 (KLF6) tumor suppressor to promote growth through SRSF1.

Alternative splicing of the Krüppel-like factor 6 (KLF6) tumor suppressor into an antagonistic splice variant 1 (SV1) is a pathogenic event in several cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) because elevated SV1 is associated with increased tumor metastasis and mortality. Ras activation is one factor that can enhance KLF6 splicing in cancer cells, however pathways driving KLF6 splicing are unknown. Splice site selection is regulated by splice factors that include serine/arginine-rich (SR) proteins such as SRSF1 (ASF-SF2), which in turn is controlled by phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway.

Enhanced hepatocarcinogenesis in mouse models and human hepatocellular carcinoma by coordinate KLF6 depletion and increased messenger RNA splicing.

Unlabelled: KLF6-SV1 (SV1), the major splice variant of KLF6, antagonizes the KLF6 tumor suppressor by an unknown mechanism. Decreased KLF6 expression in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) correlates with increased mortality, but the contribution of increased SV1 is unknown. We sought to define the impact of SV1 on human outcomes and experimental murine hepatocarcinogenesis and to elucidate its mechanism of action.

Current status of novel antifibrotic therapies in patients with chronic liver disease.

Fibrosis accumulation is a dynamic process resulting from a wound-healing response to acute or chronic liver injury of all causes. The cascade starts with hepatocyte necrosis and apoptosis, which instigate inflammatory signaling by chemokines and cytokines, recruitment of immune cell populations, and activation of fibrogenic cells, culminating in the deposition of extracellular matrix. These key elements, along with pathways of transcriptional and epigenetic regulation, represent fertile therapeutic targets.