Liver Cancer News and Research

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Liver cancer is more common in older people. Over half of people newly diagnosed with liver cancer are age 65 and over. Liver cancer is more common in men than in women. Liver cancer rates are highest among Asians and Pacific Islanders, most likely because of higher prevalence of viral Hepatitis infection. Liver cancer rates are lower among whites than Blacks or Asians and Pacific Islanders. At this time, we do not know exactly what causes cancer of the liver. There are several different types of liver cancer. The most common type is associated with long-term excessive alcoholic beverage use, scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), and Hepatitis B virus or Hepatitis C virus infection. Long-term use of anabolic steroids can also increase the risk of getting liver cancer. Smoking is also believed to increase the risk of getting liver cancer.

Many US patients with liver cancer do not receive proper treatment

Many US patients with liver cancer-even those with early stage disease that can often be cured-do not receive treatment for their disease, according to an analysis of studies published between 1989 and 2013.

6 Oct 2014

Galmed Pharmaceuticals purchases EndoPAT devices, accessories from Itamar Medical

Galmed Pharmaceuticals Ltd. ("Galmed"), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of a once-daily, oral medication for the treatment of liver diseases and cholesterol gallstones, announced today that it purchased 60 EndoPAT™ devices and accessories from Itamar Medical Ltd.

29 Sep 2014

Pitt researchers awarded new $5.8 million NIH grant to develop microfluidic 3D liver model system

With a new $5.8 million, three-year award from the National Institutes of Health, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine will further develop a state-of-the-art, microfluidic 3D model system that mimics structure and function of the liver to better predict organ physiology, assess drug toxicity and build disease models.

25 Sep 2014

Blocking AEG-1 gene expression halts development of liver cancer by regulating inflammation

Inflammation has been shown to be a driving force behind many chronic diseases, especially liver cancer, which often develops due to chronic inflammation caused by conditions such as viral hepatitis or alcoholism and has relatively few effective treatment options.

23 Sep 2014

UW Carbone Cancer Center treats patients with MRIdian MRI-guided radiation therapy system

The MRIdian (me-rid-i-an) system from ViewRay, a privately held medical device company, is now being used to treat patients at the University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center in Madison, Wisconsin, the second clinical group in the world to treat patients with MRI-guided radiation therapy.

10 Sep 2014

Researchers examine whether new drug offers added benefit for patients with chronic HCV

The drug simeprevir has been available since May 2014 for the treatment of adult patients with chronic hepatitis C infection.

9 Sep 2014

Canada funds 22 inventive ideas for improving health in low-resource countries

Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, today announced $2.4 million in seed funds shared between 22 projects from Canada and nine developing nations, to pursue inventive new ideas for improving health in low-resource countries.

8 Sep 2014

Novira completes Phase 1a clinical study of NVR-1221 for treatment of HBV infection

Novira Therapeutics, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies for curative treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, today announced successful completion of a Phase 1a clinical study of NVR-1221.

4 Sep 2014

Research findings call for clinical testing of relevant drugs to prevent NASH

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is a common affliction, affecting almost 30 percent of Americans, with a significant number suffering from its most severe form, called non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or NASH, which can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer. In recent years, NASH has become the leading cause of liver transplantation.

19 Aug 2014

AEG-1 protein blocks effects of retinoic acid in leukemia and liver cancer

Retinoic acid is a form of vitamin A that is used to treat and help prevent the recurrence of a variety of cancers, but for some patients the drug is not effective.

14 Aug 2014

New drug spurs liver regeneration after surgery

A new drug spurs liver regeneration after surgery, according to a paper published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine.

12 Aug 2014

Researchers discover how arginine starvation specifically kills cancer cells

Researchers at UC Davis, City of Hope, Taipai Medical University and National Health Research Institutes in Taiwan have discovered how a drug that deprives the cells of a key amino acid specifically kills cancer cells.

12 Aug 2014

CRI researchers identify gene linked to several childhood cancers

Researchers at the Children-s Medical Center Research Institute at UT Southwestern have identified a gene that contributes to the development of several childhood cancers, in a study conducted with mice designed to model the cancers.

11 Aug 2014

Celsion announces financial results for second quarter ended 2014

Celsion Corporation, an oncology drug development company, today announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014.

7 Aug 2014

Computer simulation forecasts favorable trends in eradicating hepatitis C

5 Aug 2014

Hepatitis C could become a rare disease by 2036

Effective new drugs and screening would make hepatitis C a rare disease by 2036, according to a computer simulation conducted by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health. The results of the simulation are reported in the August 5 edition of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine.

5 Aug 2014

New technique for studying lifecycle of hepatitis B virus can help develop cure for disease

A new technique for studying the lifecycle of the hepatitis B virus could help researchers develop a cure for the disease.

5 Aug 2014

New pill-only antiviral drug regimens could cure hardest-to-treat hepatitis C

Two new pill-only antiviral drug regimens could provide shorter, more effective treatment options with fewer side effects for the majority of patients infected with hepatitis C, even those most difficult to treat, according to the results of two studies published in The Lancet.

29 Jul 2014

Researchers provide global genotype prevalence estimates for HCV

In one of the largest prevalence studies to date, researchers from the U.K. provide national, regional, and global genotype prevalence estimates for the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Findings published in Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, indicate that genotype 1 is the most prevalent worldwide, with over 83 million patients infected of which one-third reside in East Asia.

28 Jul 2014

Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Health approves hepatitis C drug telaprevir

The Chemistry, Food & Drugs Division of the Trinidad & Tobago Ministry of Health approved the introduction of Telaprevir to the market, an innovative therapy that significantly increases the cure rate from Hepatitis C, and it is indicated for patients infected with the genotype 1 virus. Telaprevir is available in Trinidad under the trade brand INCIVO®.

26 Jul 2014