New Opportunities in the Systemic Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma-Today and Tomorrow.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer. Liver cirrhosis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease represent major risk factors of HCC. Multiple different treatment options are available, depending on the Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) algorithm.

Possible Therapies for Hepatocellular Carcinoma-Preparing for the Modern War with the Insidious Enemy.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 7% of all malignancies and about 90% of all primary liver malignancies, making it the most common type of malignant liver neoplasm [...

New Options for Systemic Therapies in Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA).

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a malignant neoplasm of the biliary tract, the incidence of which has increased in recent years. The etiopathogenesis is not fully elucidated, but the greatest association has been shown with inflammatory changes within the biliary tract. Surgical treatment is the main therapeutic modality; however, less than 30% of its are resectable at diagnosis, with the majority of patients requiring systemic treatment.

Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma-Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going to?

Cholangiocarcinomas (CCAs) are a heterogeneous group of malignancies originating from the biliary tract epithelium [...

Prognostic Relevance of a Complete Pathologic Response in Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background: A complete pathologic response (CPR) after neoadjuvant treatment is reported to be associated with an exceptionally low risk of recurrence after liver transplantation for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). This study aimed to evaluate the prognostic role of CPR in liver transplantation for HCC.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study was based on 222 HCC transplant recipients.

Immunosuppressive treatment with everolimus in patients after liver transplant: 4 years of single-center experience.

Introduction: Everolimus after liver transplant (LT) has been used to minimize the use of calcineurin inhibitors (CNIs), optimize renal function, and prevent recurre nce of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Objectives: We aimed to analyze a single‑center experience with switching from CNIs to everolimus in immunossupressive treatment of LT recipients.

Patients And Methods: A total of 108 LT recipients (men, 65.

Extremes of Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The aim of this retrospective observational study was to evaluate outcomes of patients with extremely advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after liver transplantation. A total of 285 HCC patients after liver transplantation were screened for eligibility based on either intrahepatic dissemination (≥10 tumors) or macrovascular invasion. Tumor recurrence was the primary end-point.

Shadows Behind Using Simple Risk Models in Selection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients for Liver Transplantation.

Objective: To assess the potential influence of replacing Milan criteria with simple risk scores on outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients undergoing liver transplantation.

Summary Background Data: Several risk scores combining morphological and biological features were recently proposed for precise selection of HCC patients for transplantation.

Methods: This retrospective study included 282 HCC liver transplant recipients.

A European Multi Lake Survey dataset of environmental variables, phytoplankton pigments and cyanotoxins.

Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent problem resulting from nutrient pollution and climate-change induced stressors, like poor transparency, increased water temperature and enhanced stratification.

Ischemia-reperfusion injury and the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma recurrence after deceased donor liver transplantation.

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) recurrence after liver transplantation. Data of 195 patients were retrospectively analysed. Post-reperfusion aspartate (AST), alanine transaminase, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) levels were the primary measures of IRI.

Temperature Effects Explain Continental Scale Distribution of Cyanobacterial Toxins.

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.

Challenging the principle of utility as a barrier for wider use of liver transplantation for hepatocellular cancer.

Background: Although transplant benefit appears superior for patients with advanced hepatocellular cancer (HCC), liver transplantation remains limited to selected low-risk HCC patients to keep their outcomes similar to heterogeneous group of non-HCC patients. The purpose of this study was to assess the rationale for current policy of restricting access to liver transplantation to minority of HCC patients based on utility principle.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study comprised 1246 liver transplant recipients, including 206 HCC and 1040 non-HCC patients.

Effects of continuous use of probiotics before liver transplantation: A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.

Background & Aims: Although there is increasing evidence for the benefits of probiotics in patients with liver diseases, data on the benefits of pre-LT administration of probiotics are lacking. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of continuous administration of probiotics before liver transplantation (LT) on pre- and post-transplant patient outcomes.

Methods: In this randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled trial adult cirrhotic patients listed for LT received a 4-strain probiotic preparation or placebo daily from enrollment until LT.

Successful Hepatoatrial Anastomosis During a Consecutive Liver Retransplant in the Same Patient Shows Good Long-Term Results: Case Report and 2-Year Follow-Up.

Liver retransplant is the last and only treatment for patients with irreversible graft failure. It is recognized as a high-risk procedure; thus surgical difficulties are multiplied with every successive liver transplant. Liver retransplant is a demanding technical procedure for the surgeon, with no guarantee of postoperative and long-term survival.

Limitations of predicting microvascular invasion in patients with hepatocellular cancer prior to liver transplantation.

Microvascular invasion (MVI) is well known to negatively influence outcomes following surgical treatment of hepatocellular cancer (HCC) patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the rationale for prediction of MVI before liver transplantation (LT). Data of 200 HCC patients after LT were subject to retrospective analysis.

A novel approach to genome-wide association analysis identifies genetic associations with primary biliary cholangitis and primary sclerosing cholangitis in Polish patients.

Background: Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) are forms of hepatic autoimmunity, and risk for both diseases has a strong genetic component. This study aimed to define the genetic architecture of PBC and PSC within the Polish population.

Methods: Subjects were 443 women with PBC, 120 patients with PSC, and 934 healthy controls recruited from Gastroenterology Departments in various Polish hospitals.

Plasmapheresis exerts a long-lasting antipruritic effect in severe cholestatic itch.

Background & Aims: The amelioration of refractory cholestatic pruritus after plasmapheresis has been reported in single patients. Here, we analyse the efficacy of plasmapheresis in a cohort of patients with primary biliary cholangitis (PBC).

Methods: Seventeen consecutive patients with PBC (age range 39-85 years, 16 females, 9 with cirrhosis) and refractory pruritus underwent 129 plasmapheresis procedures during 40 admissions.

Evolution Of The Results Of 1500 Liver Transplantations Performed In The Department Of General, Transplant And Liver Surgery Medical University Of Warsaw.

Unlabelled: Liver transplantation is a well-established treatment of patients with end-stage liver disease and selected liver tumors. Remarkable progress has been made over the last years concerning nearly all of its aspects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the evolution of long-term outcomes after liver transplantations performed in the Department of General, Transplant and Liver Surgery (Medical University of Warsaw).

NOD2/CARD15 mutations in Polish and Bosnian populations with and without Crohn's disease: prevalence and genotype-phenotype analysis.

Data on prevalence and phenotypic consequences of nucleotide-binding oligomerisation domain 2/caspase recruitment domains 15 (NOD2/CARD15) variants in Crohn's disease (CD) population in Poland and Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) are nonexistent. We aimed to determine the prevalence of NOD2/CARD15 mutations and their association with disease phenotype in Polish and Bosnian patients with CD and in healthy controls. We prospectively recruited 86 CD patients and 83 controls in Poland and 30 CD patients and 30 controls in B&H, 229 in total.

TRAF1 gene polymorphism correlates with the titre of Gp210 antibody in patients with primary biliary cirrhosis.

Background: Polymorphisms of TRAF1 (Tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 1) are associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Whether TRAF1 polymorphisms confer increased risk for primary biliary cirrhosis (PBC), an autoimmune liver disease which can co-exist with RA, is unknown.

Aim Of The Study: To assess the frequency of the RA-conferring susceptibility TRAF1 polymorphisms rs3761847 and rs2900180 in a cohort of PBC patients.

Expression of cyclooxygenase-2 in colonic polyps.

Introduction: Limited data is available regarding the relationships between cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and colorectal cancer formation.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression in histologically diverse colonic polyps, to determine the association between the expression of this enzyme and selected patho logical and clinical characteristics of polyps, and to establish the location of cells with high COX-2 expression within the polyp.

Patients And Methods: We examined 212 colonic polyps from 175 patients.

[Portal biliopathy presenting itself as a massive vericeal bleeding--case report].

This article presents a rare case of portal biliopathy, a secondary cholangiopathy, in a young man whose first clinical manifestation was bleeding from esophageal varices. Portal biliopathy may mimic primary sclerosing cholangitis and it can develop secondary to portal vein thrombosis usually acquired in early childhood. Narrowing and dilatation of biliary tree develops as a consequence of compression of common bile duct by collaterals.

Overexpression of 5-lipoxygenase in sporadic colonic adenomas and a possible new aspect of colon carcinogenesis.

Purpose: We aimed to study the intracellular expression of 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX), the primary competitor with cyclooxygenase-2 in arachidonic acid metabolism, as inflammatory enzymes may be involved in blocking apoptosis and promoting cancer growth by changing arachidonic acid metabolism within cells. Our purpose was to investigate the possible connection between 5-LOX expression and colon carcinogenesis by characterizing 5-LOX expression in histologically different colonic adenomas, determining the relationship between high expression of 5-LOX and various conventional clinicopathological features of adenomas, and finally characterizing the histological localization of cells with 5-LOX overexpression.

Methods: A total of 111 patients were examined and 120 histologically different colonic adenomas analyzed (including four cases of intramucosal adenocarcinoma in a polyp).