Publications by authors named "Ryoko Yamada"
Article Synopsis
- - Canine gastrointestinal lymphoma is mostly T-cell in origin, but the genetic details aren't fully understood.
- - Previous studies in humans show mutations in genes linked to the JAK-STAT pathway, which are crucial for signaling in immune responses.
- - In this study of 31 dogs, only a few mutations were found in the STAT3 and JAK1 genes, and there wasn't a strong link between these mutations and large cell gastrointestinal lymphoma in dogs.
Aim: Alterations in microbial composition of gut microbiota due to antibiotics (ATB) may lead to resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). This study aimed to assess the impact of ATB use on therapeutic response in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) receiving atezolizumab plus bevacizumab.
Methods: This study retrospectively analyzed 105 patients with HCC treated with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab as a primary systemic therapy from prospectively-registered, multicenter, cohorts.
We evaluated the value of secreted glycoprotein thrombospondin-2 (TSP-2) to predict hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurrence in chronic hepatitis C (CHC) patients after Hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination by direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs). A total of 786 CHC patients without an HCC history who achieved a sustained virological response (SVR) with DAAs were randomly assigned 2:1, with 524 patients as the derivation cohort and 262 patients as the validation cohort. Serum TSP-2 levels at the end of treatment were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Patients with advanced fibrosis are at risk for developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) even after hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination. We previously reported that serum fucosylated haptoglobin (Fuc-Hp) levels increase as the disease progresses from chronic hepatitis to cirrhosis and then HCC. However, it remains unclear whether serum Fuc-Hp levels can stratify the risk of HCC occurrence after a sustained virological response (SVR) is achieved with direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) in patients with advanced liver fibrosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Aim: Liver function can be improved in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection who achieved sustained virologic response (SVR) with direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment. However, to our knowledge, the impact of liver function improvement after SVR on prognosis has not been investigated.
Methods: A total of 716 patients with chronic HCV infection and compensated advanced liver fibrosis who began receiving DAA treatment between September 2014 and August 2018 in 25 Japanese hospitals and achieved SVR were enrolled.
Article Synopsis
- The study aimed to evaluate how direct-acting antiviral therapy affects the long-term health outcomes of patients with decompensated cirrhosis caused by hepatitis C virus.
- It compared 37 patients undergoing treatment with sofosbuvir and velpatasvir (SOF/VEL) to a historical control group of 65 untreated patients, focusing on rates of liver decompensation, hospitalization, and survival.
- Results showed that the treatment group had significantly fewer decompensated events and better survival rates over two years, but the risk of developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was still high in both groups.
Article Synopsis
- Combination immunotherapy using anti-PD-L1 and anti-VEGF antibodies is the standard treatment for patients with unresectable HCC, but it doesn’t benefit all patients equally.
- A study involving 85 HCC patients showed that high levels of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in the blood correlate with poorer treatment responses and shorter survival outcomes.
- Specific mutations in ctDNA, particularly in the TERT gene, can indicate worse prognosis and may help doctors assess treatment effectiveness for patients receiving this therapy.
Extracellular vesicles (EVs) contain proteins, mRNAs, and microRNAs, and their cargos have emerged as novel diagnostic markers in various diseases. We aimed to discover novel and noninvasive biomarkers of liver fibrosis by proteomic analysis using serum EVs in patients with chronic hepatitis C. We performed shotgun proteomics using serum EVs isolated from 54 patients with histologically assessed liver fibrosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after sustained virologic response (SVR) has been observed even in hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients without advanced liver fibrosis. Identifying predictors for HCC incidence in patients without advanced liver fibrosis will enable efficient post-SVR HCC surveillance. This study aimed to develop a scoring system to predict the incidence of HCC after SVR in HCV patients without advanced liver fibrosis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- - Current treatments for hepatitis B virus (HBV) do not effectively remove its DNA form (cccDNA), but researchers are exploring the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to target and reduce cccDNA levels.
- - The study found that inhibiting DNA repair processes, particularly those handled by PARP2 and DNA Ligase 4, can enhance the effectiveness of CRISPR in reducing HBV replication markers in infected liver cells.
- - Additionally, using the PARP inhibitor olaparib further boosted the effectiveness of CRISPR by lowering levels of HBV-related RNA and cccDNA, highlighting a potential new combination therapy for HBV.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates the effects of balloon-occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO) on esophageal varices (EVs) after treating gastric varices (GVs), as worsening of EVs has been observed post-treatment.
- Out of 258 patients treated with BRTO, 198 were evaluated, revealing that the risk of EV worsening increased over time, with significant predictors including sex, left gastric vein dilation, liver enzymes, albumin levels, and spleen size.
- The findings indicate that patients experiencing early deterioration of EVs within a year after BRTO face a notably poorer prognosis compared to those without worsening.
Article Synopsis
- A study compared the effectiveness of two cancer treatments, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab and lenvatinib, for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), involving 272 patients in total.
- After analyzing the data, the combination of atezolizumab and bevacizumab resulted in a significantly longer median progression-free survival (8.8 months) compared to lenvatinib (5.2 months), although overall survival rates were similar.
- Additionally, the atezolizumab plus bevacizumab group maintained better liver function and had fewer severe side effects than the lenvatinib group, suggesting it may be a preferable option for HCC treatment.*
Background: Intrahepatic hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has a high recurrence rate after radiofrequency ablation (RFA). However, to date, no standalone predictive factors for intrahepatic distant recurrence after curative ablation have been reported.
Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate predictive factors for intrahepatic distant recurrence after curative treatment with RFA for HCCs.
Article Synopsis
- * Researchers looked at blood biomarkers to see if they could predict which patients would be nonresponders, finding that high levels of IL-6 and interferon alpha (IFNα) were significant predictors.
- * Patients with high IL-6 levels had worse outcomes, such as shorter progression-free survival and overall survival, making IL-6 a potential new prognostic biomarker for those receiving this therapy.
Article Synopsis
- Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) can develop as a complication in patients with Fontan-associated liver disease (FALD), but the specific risk factors are not well understood.
- A study analyzed 103 post-Fontan patients, finding that those who did not receive warfarin and those with situs inversus had significantly higher rates of HCC.
- The research concluded that absence of warfarin treatment and having situs inversus are key risk factors for developing HCC after the Fontan procedure.
Background: Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapy enables a high rate of sustained virologic response (SVR) in patients with hepatitis C virus associated cirrhosis. However, the impact of DAA therapy on liver-related events in patients with cirrhosis is unclear.
Methods: A total of 350 patients with compensated and decompensated cirrhosis administered DAA therapy at 29 Japanese hospitals were enrolled (Child-Pugh class A [CP-A]: 195 patients, CP-B: 131 patients and CP-C: 24 patients).
Background And Aims: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a deadly but poorly understood disease, and its treatment options are very limited. The aim of this study was to identify the molecular drivers of ICC and search for therapeutic targets.
Approach And Results: We performed a Sleeping Beauty transposon-based in vivo insertional mutagenesis screen in liver-specific Pten -deficient mice and identified TNF receptor-related factor 3 ( Traf3 ) as the most significantly mutated gene in murine ICCs in a loss-of-function manner.
Article Synopsis
- - Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, approved for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in 2020, showed a 10.2% occurrence of hyperprogressive disease (HPD) in Japanese patients, defined by rapid tumor growth despite treatment.
- - Among 88 patients studied, 13.6% had partial responses, while 58% experienced stable disease; the median progression-free survival for the group was 5.0 months.
- - Higher baseline levels of α-fetoprotein, lactate dehydrogenase, and a neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) ≥3 were linked to HPD, with NLR serving as a significant independent
Background: After hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination, patients should be followed up due to risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) is a cytokine induced by mitochondrial dysfunction or oxidative stress. Aim To evaluate the prognostic value of GDF15 for HCC occurrence after HCV elimination.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe herein report a 34-year-old woman born with tetralogy of Fallot who had undergone 5 cardiac repair procedures. She developed liver nodules with congestive cirrhosis secondary to severe mitral regurgitation and an atrial septal defect. A percutaneous liver biopsy showed hepatocellular carcinoma with liver fibrosis, which was treated using transarterial chemoembolization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Several factors associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) occurrence after sustained virological response (SVR) in patients with hepatitis C have been reported. However, few validation studies have been performed in the era of direct-acting anti-virals (DAAs).
Aims: To develop a prediction model for HCC occurrence after DAA-mediated SVR and validate its usefulness.
Capsid allosteric modulators (CAMs) inhibit the encapsidation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) pregenomic RNA (pgRNA), which contains a pathogen-associated molecular pattern motif. However, the effect of CAMs on the innate immune response of HBV-infected hepatocytes remains unclear, and we examined this effect in this study. Administration of a CAM compound, BAY41-4109 (BAY41), to HBV-infected primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) did not change the total cytoplasmic pgRNA levels but significantly reduced intracapsid pgRNA levels, suggesting that BAY41 increased extracapsid pgRNA levels in the cytoplasm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTransileocolic obliteration (TIO) is a useful treatment for gastric, duodenal, or rectal varices. However, TIO for esophageal varices has not yet been reported. We herein report successful TIO performed for refractory esophageal varices with a large paraesophageal vein, with no subsequent recurrence of varices.
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