Effects of Positive Hepatitis B Core Antibody and Metabolic Disorders in Hepatocellular Carcinoma in an Endemic Area of Hepatitis B Virus.

Background And Aims: This retrospective study aimed to investigate the impact of positive hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) and metabolic disorders on clinical characteristics of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients in an HBV-endemic area.

Methods: A total of 1950 consecutive patients newly diagnosed with HCC between 2002 and 2015 were included. Patient records were reviewed.

Prediction of Hepatocellular Carcinoma by On-Therapy Response of Noninvasive Fibrosis Markers in Chronic Hepatitis B.

Introduction: Antiviral therapy improves hepatic fibrosis and reduces hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) incidence. This study aimed to evaluate whether on-therapy changes in scores for fibrosis index based on 4 factors and aspartate aminotransferase-to-platelet ratio index are associated with HCC development and establish an HCC risk score model incorporating noninvasive fibrosis marker (NFM) response.

Methods: This multicenter study recruited 5,147 patients with chronic hepatitis B (4,028 for derivation cohort and 1,119 for validation cohort) who were given entecavir/tenofovir for >12 months between 2007 and 2018.

Real-World Outcomes of Nivolumab in Patients With Unresectable Hepatocellular Carcinoma in an Endemic Area of Hepatitis B Virus Infection.

Real-world results of nivolumab monotherapy against HCC are lacking in the hepatitis B virus (HBV)-endemic, Asia-Pacific regions. Moreover, heterogeneous responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors have rarely been described in advanced HCC. The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of nivolumab monotherapy in a real-world setting in 33 Korean patients with unresectable HCC.

Comparison of tenofovir and entecavir on the risk of hepatocellular carcinoma and mortality in treatment-naïve patients with chronic hepatitis B in Korea: a large-scale, propensity score analysis.

Objective: The use of tenofovir (TDF) and entecavir (ETV) in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) has led to a decrease in the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and liver-related events. However, whether there is a difference between the two agents in the extent of improving such outcomes has not been clarified thus far. Therefore, we aimed to compare TDF and ETV on the risk of HCC and mortality.

Early Hepatitis B Surface Antigen Seroclearance Following Antiviral Treatment in Patients with Reactivation of Resolved Hepatitis B.

Background And Aims: Long-term results on hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation in patients with resolved infection during anti-cancer therapy are unknown. This study investigated long-term risk and therapeutic endpoints including hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance following antiviral therapy in patients developing reactivation of resolved HBV.

Methods: The study included 528 consecutive HBsAg-negative/hepatitis B core antibody-positive patients who underwent rituximab treatment or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) between 2006 and 2016.

Inflammatory cytokines and change of Th1/Th2 balance as prognostic indicators for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients treated with transarterial chemoembolization.

Tumor-associated immune response plays a critical role in cancer pathogenesis. This study evaluated clinical implications of T cell cytokines and regulatory T cells (Tregs) in HCC patients treated with TACE. Whole blood was obtained for analysis of T cell cytokines (IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-9, IL-10, IL-12p70, IL-13, IL-17A, IL-22, IFN-γ, and TNF-α) and Tregs from 142 HCC patients.

Efficacy and Safety of Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate in Treatment-Naïve Patients with Chronic Hepatitis B in Korea.

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of 144-week tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) therapy in treatment-naïve chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients in Korean.

Methods: In total, 579 treatment-naïve CHB patients at 11 medical centers were enrolled retrospective and prospective from September 2015 to January 2016 by design (NCT02533544). We evaluated the complete virologic response (CVR) rate and the renal safety of TDF.

Clinical outcomes after the introduction of direct antiviral agents for patients infected with genotype 1b hepatitis C virus depending on the regimens: A multicenter study in Korea.

Background: A real-life study is essential outside clinical trials. The aim is to evaluate the clinical outcomes of direct acting agents (DAA) for patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC) in real practice.

Methods: We analyzed 590 consecutively enrolled patients with CHC-1b who received DAAs since 2015, when DAAs were introduced in Korea.

Transarterial infusion of epirubicin and cisplatin combined with systemic infusion of 5-fluorouracil transarterial chemoembolization using doxorubicin for unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma with portal vein tumor thrombosis: a retrospective analysis.

Background: More than one-third of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients are diagnosed at advanced stage with portal vein tumor thrombosis (PVTT) or extrahepatic metastasis. However, the outcomes of current therapeutic approaches are unsatisfactory. As a novel therapeutic strategy for unresectable HCC with PVTT, we analyzed the outcomes of transarterial infusion of epirubicin and cisplatin combined with systemic infusion of 5-fluorouracil (TAC-ECF) and compared its therapeutic effects and toxicity with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) using doxorubicin (DOX).

Reactivation of Hepatitis C Virus and Its Clinical Outcomes in Patients Treated with Systemic Chemotherapy or Immunosuppressive Therapy.

Background/aims: According to the results of several studies, the outcome of hepatitis C virus (HCV) reactivation is not as severe as the outcome of hepatitis B virus reactivation. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of pharmacological immunosuppression on HCV reactivation.

Methods: The medical records of patients who underwent systemic chemotherapy, corticosteroid therapy, or other immunosuppressive therapies between January 2008 and March 2015 were reviewed.

Early treatment response to transcatheter arterial chemoembolization is associated with time to the development of extrahepatic metastasis and overall survival in intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: Transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) is the treatment of choice for intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The absence of an early response to TACE might indicate alternative therapeutic strategies early in the course of the disease, thus improving outcomes. Therefore, our purpose was to identify the relationship between treatment response after two sessions of TACE and the time to the development of extrahepatic metastasis and overall survival.

Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt Occlusion Complicated with Biliary Fistula Successfully Treated with a Stent Graft: A Case Report.

A 43-year-old man with liver cirrhosis received transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) for the treatment of recurrent variceal bleeding and F3 esophageal varices. During routine follow up liver ultrasound examination, six months after the implantation, TIPS occlusion was suspected and TIPS revision was performed. During the revision, moderate to severe stenosis at the hepatic venous segment of the tract and a total occlusion at the parenchymal segment of TIPS tract near the portal vein with biliary-TIPS fistula were identified with a clear visualization of the common bile duct.

[A Case of Severe Chronic Active Epstein-Barr Virus Infection with Aplastic Anemia and Hepatitis].

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) causes various acute and chronic diseases. Chronic active EBV infection (CAEBV) is characterized by infectious mononucleosis-like symptoms that persist for more than 6 months with high viral loads in peripheral blood and/or an unusual pattern of anti-EBV antibodies. Severe CAEBV is associated with poor prognosis with severe symptoms, an extremely high EBV-related antibody titer, and hematologic complications that often include hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis.

[Recurrence of multiple focal nodular hyperplasia in a young male patient].

Focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) is the second most common benign hepatic tumor that is usually found in women. Diagnosis of FNH mainly depends on imaging studies such as color Doppler flow imaging, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. It is characterized by the presence of stellate central scar and is nowadays incidentally diagnosed with increasing frequency due to advances in radiologic imaging technique.

A pilot study of autologous CD34-depleted bone marrow mononuclear cell transplantation via the hepatic artery in five patients with liver failure.

Background Aims: Many rodent experiments and human studies on stem cell therapy have shown promising therapeutic approaches to liver diseases. We investigated the clinical outcomes of five patients with liver failure of various causes who received autologous CD34-depleted bone marrow-derived mononuclear cell (BM-MNC) transplantation, including mesenchymal stromal cells, through the hepatic artery.

Methods: CD34-depleted BM-MNCs were obtained from five patients waiting for liver transplantation by bone marrow aspiration and using the CliniMACS CD34 Reagent System (Miltenyi Biotech, Bergisch Gladbach, Germany), and autologous hepatic artery infusion was performed.

Frequency of killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) in Korean patients with chronic HCV infection.

Natural killer (NK) cells play an important role in innate immunity, especially in the response to viral infections, such as hepatitis C virus (HCV). Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) are the primary receptors of NK cells that mediate innate immunity. KIRs are also involved in acquired immunity, because some KIRs are expressed on the surface of certain subsets of T cells.

RPL36 as a prognostic marker in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Ribosomal proteins (RP) play key roles in the regulation of apoptosis, multidrug resistance and carcinogenesis. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of ribosomal protein L36 (RPL36) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to correlate it with clinicopathological parameters and clinical outcome. Liver specimens were obtained from 60 HCC patients who had undergone a partial hepatectomy.

Impact of serial hepatitis B virus DNA on hepatocellular carcinoma development in patients with liver cirrhosis.

Objectives: We investigated the pattern of serial HBV DNA levels in known cirrhosis patients and its impact on the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: We analyzed a retrospective case/control study based on 352 HCC patients associated with HBV between 2005 and 2007. Prior to HCC development, 49 cirrhosis patients were tested for HBV DNA levels more than once a year (median 4 times) during the follow-up period.

Hepatitis B virus load in serum does not reflect histologic activity in patients with decompensated cirrhosis.

Background & Aims: Little is known about whether histologic data can predict which patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV)-related decompensated cirrhosis will respond to antiviral therapies. We assessed the relationship between serum HBV DNA load and histologic activity by analyzing liver specimens from patients with decompensated cirrhosis.

Methods: The study included 72 consecutive patients who underwent liver transplantation for HBV-related decompensated cirrhosis between November 2000 and March 2008.

[A case of rhabdomyolysis during hospitalization for acute hepatitis A].

A 29-year-old man was admitted to hospital with fever, myalgia, and sore throat. Initial laboratory findings were compatible with acute hepatitis; he was positive for the serologic marker for acute hepatitis A. On the 3rd day of admission, in spite of normalization of body temperature and a reduction in serum liver enzyme levels, serum levels of creatinine phosphokinase had increased up to 16,949 U/L.

Role of long-term lamivudine treatment of hepatitis B virus recurrence after liver transplantation.

In this study, the long-term (>3 years) efficacy of combination therapy for hepatitis B virus (HBV) recurrence and the associated factors were investigated. One hundred and sixty-five consecutive HBsAg-positive patients (92 with liver cirrhosis, 73 with hepatocellular carcinoma; HCC) who underwent liver transplantation were assessed with a median follow-up time of 40 months. One hundred and twenty-one patients (121/165, 73.

Clinical outcomes of delayed clearance of serum HBsAG in patients with chronic HBV infection.

Background: Spontaneous delayed clearance of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in patients with chronic HBV infection is a rare event. The aim of this study was to investigate the incidence of delayed clearance of serum HBsAg in chronic HBV infection and to determine the characteristics and clinical outcomes of HBsAg delayed clearance in Korean patients.

Methods: From April 1981 to June 2003, 4,061 patients who were positive for HBsAg were evaluated retrospectively.

Correlation of hepatitis B core antigen and beta-catenin expression on hepatocytes in chronic hepatitis B virus infection: relevance to the severity of liver damage and viral replication.

Background And Aims: The topographical distribution of hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) is related to the pathogenesis of liver damage caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. beta-catenin plays an important role in both intracellular adhesion and Wnt signaling transduction pathways. This study investigated the intrahepatic expression of HBcAg and beta-catenin in chronic HBV infection, and correlated the results with the degree of liver damage and viral replication.