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Three new studies help clarify optimal use of combination therapy in chronic hepatitis B patients

London, UK, Saturday 12 April 2014: Three new studies presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014 have helped clarify the optimal use of combination therapy with peginterferon and nucleoside analogues (NUCs) to achieve the best treatment outcomes in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

"Together these ground-breaking data will go a long way to influencing future CHB treatment guidelines," said EASL's Educational Councillor Professor Cihan Yurdaydin from the Department of Gastroenterology, University of Ankara, Turkey.

Impressive SVR12 data for once-daily combination to treat HCV genotype 1 patients

London, UK, Saturday 12 April 2014: Results from three Phase III clinical trials (ION-1, ION-2 and ION-3) evaluating the investigational once-daily fixed-dose combination of the nucleotide analogue polymerase inhibitor sofosbuvir (SOF) 400mg and the NS5A inhibitor ledipasvir (LDV) 90mg, with and without ribavirin (RBV), for the treatment of genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection have been presented at the International Liver CongressTM 2014.

Gut microbiota may play a role in the development of alcoholic liver disease

London, UK, Saturday 12 April 2014: Exciting new data presented today at the International Liver Congress™ 2014 shows that the gut microbiota has a potential role in the development of alcoholic liver disease (ALD).1 Though an early stage animal model, the French study highlights the possibility of preventing ALD with faecal microbiota transplantation – the engrafting of new microbiota, usually through administering human faecal material from a healthy donor into the colon of a recipient.2

New advances in HCC diagnosis, staging and treatment all predicted to improve patient outcomes

London, UK, Saturday 12 April 2014: Epidemiological, genetic and clinical data presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014 are collectively focussed on different approaches designed to improve the diagnosis, staging and treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

New interferon-free, all-oral 3D regimen achieves high SVR in chronic HCV genotype 1 patients

London, UK, Saturday 12 April 2014: The new interferon-free, all-oral, three direct-acting-antiviral (3D) treatment regimen in development by AbbVie has achieved very high rates of virological response in patients chronically infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1 (GT1); according to the results of three studies presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014.

The 3D regimen consists of the HCV NS3/4A protease inhibitor ABT-450 dosed with ritonavir, the NS5A inhibitor ABT-267, and the NS5B RNA polymerase inhibitor ABT-333.

New data for HCV genotype 4 patients with simeprevir- and sofosbuvir-based regimens

London, UK, Saturday 12 April 2014: Results from RESTORE , a phase III, multicentre, single-arm, open-label study presented today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014 showed that simeprevir 150 mg once-daily for 12 weeks in combination with peginterferon and ribavirin (followed by 12 or 36 weeks of peginterferon and ribavirin) was effective and well tolerated in hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 4-infected patients, consistent with previous observations in HCV genotype 1-infected patients.

NEJM: High-risk seniors surgery decisions should be patient-centered, and physician-led

Surgery for frail, senior citizen patients can be risky. A new patient-centered, team-based approach to deciding whether these high-risk patients will benefit from surgery is championed in an April 10 Perspective of the New England Journal of Medicine. The Perspective suggests that the decision to have surgery must balance the advantages and disadvantages of surgical and non-surgical treatment as well as the patient's values and goals in a team-based setting that includes the patient, his or her family, the surgeon, the primary care physician and the physician anesthesiologist.

Sudden loss of consciousness

According to a prospective study (the SPEED Study) presented by Yvonne Greve of Nuremberg Hospital et al. in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International (Dtsch Arztebl Int 2014; 111(12): 197), up to 3% of consultations at an emergency department concern a sudden loss of consciousness or near loss of consciousness.

New data reveals positive outcomes for hepatitis C transplant patients

London, United Kingdom, Friday 11 April 2014: New research announced at the International Liver CongressTM 2014 today provides new hope for the notoriously difficult-to-treat population of liver transplant patients with recurring hepatitis C (HCV).

Viral hepatitis more deadly than HIV in Europe

London, UK, Friday 11 April 2014: Mortality from viral hepatitis is significantly higher than from HIV/AIDS across EU countries, according to results from The Global Burden of Disease Study 2010 (GBD 2010) which was announced for the first time today at the International Liver CongressTM 2014(1).

GBD 2010 is the most recent version of a large epidemiological study funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and coordinated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

Immunotherapy could help tackle tough liver cancer

London, England, Friday 11 April 2014 Significant new data presented today at the International Liver Congress™ 2014 indicate that liver cancer (Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)) may be treated by adoptive T-cell therapy.

This new therapeutic approach in the treatment of HCC could be very important as without treatment the 5 year survival rate is just 5%. Globally, HCC accounts for 746,000 deaths, and in the UK alone is responsible for over 4,000 deaths per year.

Single mothers don't delay marriage just to boost tax credit, study says

MADISON, Wis. – When the Earned Income Tax Credit was expanded in 1993, supporters hoped it would reward poor parents for working while critics feared that it might discourage single mothers from marrying or incentivize women to have more children to boost their tax refund.

A new collaborative study done by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Cornell University reveals the EITC has helped the working poor but hasn't affected personal choices.

Medicare's flawed adjustment methodology poor way to spend billions

Lebanon, N.H. (April 10, 2014) – The methodology Medicare uses to adjust the billions of dollars it pays health plans and hospitals to account for how sick their patients are is flawed and should be replaced, according to a new study by Dartmouth investigators published in the journal BMJ that weighed the performance of Medicare's methodology against alternatives.

American College of Physicians releases policy paper on medical liability crisis

Washington, DC, April 10, 2014 -- The American College of Physicians (ACP) today released a policy paper on the medical liability crisis, which continues to have a profound effect on the medical system.

For sick, elderly patients, surgical decision making 'takes a village'

Surgical decision making for sick, elderly patients should be orchestrated by a multidisciplinary team, including the patient, his or her family, the surgeon, primary care physician, nurses and non-clinicians, such as social workers, advocates Laurent G. Glance, M.D., in a perspective piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine.