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Friday, June 15, 2018
News Recap:
Canada:
Canada is facing a tsunami of liver disease and cancer: U of T expert – The Conversation with U of T’s Dr. Morris Sherman. Deaths from liver cancer in Canada have doubled over the past 25 years. And to make matters worse, there’s an epidemic of liver cancer on the horizon if action isn’t taken soon. While less people are dying from most major cancers – such as breast cancer and lung cancer – liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma or HCC) is bucking the trend and heading in the wrong direction. Obesity is a growing concern.
Lungs from deceased donors with hepatitis C can be safely transplanted: researchers. Toronto doctors have successfully transplanted lungs from deceased donors with hepatitis C into patients in need of the life-saving organs, followed by treatment to prevent them from becoming infected with the potentially liver-destroying virus.
BC Centre for Disease Control Responds to Recent Findings on Hep C. A report from the Canadian Association for the Study of Liver says 250,000 Canadians within a certain age group are likely to have Hepatitis C. Dr. Mel Krajden is the Medical Head of Hepatitis C for the BC Centre for Disease Control. “People born after 1945 to 1975, most of the people who are infected with Hepatitis C between two thirds to three-quarters of the people who are infected are within that age group.”
Other News:
DAA Therapy Outcomes in HCV-Infected Transplant Candidates after Organ Delisting. Hepatitis C virus (HCV) antiviral therapy in liver transplant candidates with decompensated cirrhosis may result in long-term improvement in liver function, giving as many as 1 in 3 patients the possibility of being taken off the transplant list, according to a study published in Liver International.