Scientific news
- The search for a functional cure for hepatitis B, where the virus is undetectable in the blood but may still be present in the body, is an ongoing and complex endeavor. Hepatitis B is indeed a challenging opponent due to its ability to persist in the liver and evade the immune system. Researchers are continually working to develop innovative therapies and treatment approaches to achieve this functional cure, but it remains a formidable task in the field of viral hepatitis research.
- Long-term treatment of hepatitis B with tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) has been found to be equal or non-inferior to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) in terms of its effectiveness in suppressing the hepatitis B virus (HBV).
- Fecal transplantation in cirrhosis is currently the subject of early-stage studies, but it has the potential to emerge as an intriguing new approach for enhancing gut functionality, overall health, and potentially reducing the reliance on antibiotics (GS-007)
- Naltrexone demonstrated its efficacy in reducing alcohol dependence in a study involving individuals with cirrhosis (GS-008-YI).
- Resmetirom is an innovative drug for NASH that has shown success in achieving NASH resolution and reducing fibrosis according to liver biopsy results. To the best of my knowledge, the difference observed was approximately 10% to 20% greater than that seen in the placebo group (GS-001).
- There is increasing evidence in Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) that the treatment target for liver enzymes should be aimed at achieving a state where “normal is the new normal.” This suggests that treating PBC patients until their liver enzymes are within the normal range is crucial. (WED-256)
- AI is coming to hepatology and could revolutionize diagnostics, prediction of treatment success and drug development in the next few years. In one study AI could successfully predict which HCC patients might benefit from a systemic treatment with two cancer drugs, atezolizumab and bevacizumab (LBO-04). For the future, open AI questions and challenges could be data protection, how much AI could/should become part of medical decision-making (and legal implications if things go wrong), and retaining human control over AI.