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Friday, January 19, 2018
News Recap:
Research & Discoveries:
Blood test for early detection of 8 cancers looks promising. Scientists have developed a blood test that can detect eight common cancer types through assessment of the levels of circulating proteins and mutations in cell-free DNA. The test, called CancerSEEK, clinically detected cancers of the ovary, liver, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, colorectum, lung, or breast. CancerSEEK tests were positive in a median of 70% of the eight cancer types. The sensitivities ranged from 69% to 98% for the detection of five cancer types (ovary, liver, stomach, pancreas, and esophagus)!
Insulin Resistance in HCV May Be Reversed With DAAs. HCV is associated with insulin resistance, and elimination of the virus may help re-establish glycemic control in affected patients, according to a prospective case-control study published in the Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. Approximately 76.5% of patients who achieved a sustained virologic response experienced improvements in insulin resistance.
NASH, HCV cirrhosis predict coronary artery disease in liver transplantation. Patients who underwent liver transplantation evaluation had a high prevalence of coronary artery disease, especially those with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis-related cirrhosis, hepatitis C-related cirrhosis and alcoholic cirrhosis, according to a recently published study.
Smoking reduces survival after liver cancer diagnosis for people with viral hepatitis. People with viral hepatitis who smoked were three times more likely to die after being diagnosed with liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC), according to a study of Swiss patients published in Liver International.
Epidemiology:
Men who have sex with men urged to get tested for hepatitis A after another outbreak. You’d think this was a no-brainer! Since the Europe-wide outbreak began in June 2016, 3,813 cases of hepatitis A have been confirmed, and the European Centre of Disease Control is urging people to get tested. “As of December 18 2017, the monthly number of laboratory-confirmed cases remain significantly higher than in previous years.”
And while we’re at it, patients with HIV are at an increased risk of numerous comorbidities and infections, including hepatitis B virus (HBV). Due to the opioid epidemic, injection drug users have a significantly increased risk of contracting HBV and hepatitis C virus, especially those coinfected with HIV. Hepatitis B Vaccination Low Among HIV-Positive Patients.