Publications by authors named "Naoki Uchihara"

Background And Aim: Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is used for the evaluation of liver fibrosis; however, it remains unclear whether MRE-based liver stiffness is associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) development, particularly in patients with chronic hepatitis B.

Methods: A total of 504 patients with chronic hepatitis B receiving MRE were enrolled. The was the association between MRE-based liver stiffness and HCC.

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Background And Aim: Immune checkpoint inhibitors pose the risk of immune-related adverse events (irAEs). Recent data suggest that irAEs may be associated with a favorable prognosis. This study aimed to investigate and analyze the association between these adverse events and the clinical benefits in patients with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

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Aim: A multisociety consensus group proposed a new nomenclature for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Although patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are expected to be reclassified as patients with MASLD under the new nomenclature, the concordance between MASLD and NAFLD remains unclear. Moreover, waist circumference could be adjusted by ethnicity for diagnosing MASLD; however, there are limited data on the optimal waist circumference in the Japanese population.

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Objective Pemafibrate is a recently developed selective peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha modulator that can improve alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). However, the effectiveness of ALT normalization with pemafibrate and bezafibrate, a traditional fibrate, has not been compared. Methods In this retrospective study, we compared the effects of pemafibrate and bezafibrate on ALT normalization in patients with NAFLD.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study investigates whether switching from entecavir (ETV) to tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) helps maintain complete virological response (CVR) in chronic hepatitis B patients with low-level viremia (LLV) or occasional detectable HBV DNA.
  • A total of 45 patients were followed for 2 years, showing an increase in CVR rates: from 33.3% with ETV to 68.9% after switching to TAF, indicating TAF is more effective.
  • The findings suggest that transitioning to TAF could be a beneficial treatment option for patients not achieving stable HBV DNA levels on ETV.
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The liquid CGP was useful for detecting FGFR2 fusion and the patient experienced typical side effects (nail disorders, hyperphosphatemia, and taste disorders) of pemigatinib that required treatment.

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Article Synopsis
  • Patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), whether lean or non-lean, are at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), but the risk for lean NAFLD is less understood.
  • In a study of 581 Japanese NAFLD patients over 3 years, the incidence of new CVD was found to be 2.3% in lean NAFLD and 3.9% in non-lean NAFLD, with no significant difference.
  • The findings suggest that age is a key risk factor for CVD, while having lean NAFLD does not increase the risk, indicating that CVD prevention should still be a focus for individuals with lean NAFLD.
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The molecular mechanism of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is partially demonstrated. Moreover, in the patients receiving multiple molecular-targeted therapies, the gene alternations are still unknown. Six molecular-targeted therapies of unresectable HCC (uHCC) and comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP) have been approved in clinical practice.

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The number of patients with fatty liver has been increasing worldwide; however, the significance of fatty liver in patients with chronic hepatitis B who are receiving nucleic acid analog (NA) therapy remains unclear. Thus, we aimed to determine whether fatty liver affects the development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in patients receiving NA therapy. This study included 445 patients who received NA therapy, and the development of HCC was investigated.

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Background: Sarcopenia is associated with overall survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it is not known whether muscle volume is associated with clinical outcomes during combination therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors. We investigated the relationship between changes in muscle volume and treatment outcomes in patients treated with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab.

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