Liver Disease News and Research

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The liver is one of the largest solid organs of the body. It is located in the upper right part of the abdomen. Most of the organ lies under cover of the rib cage.

Proton radiation therapy can help treat patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Two new studies support and inform the use of proton radiation therapy to treat patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a common but often fatal type of liver cancer for which there are limited treatment options. One study (Sanford et al.) suggests that proton radiation, compared to traditional photon radiation, can extend overall survival with reduced toxicity.

30 Oct 2019

New contrast agent improves MRI diagnosis of early liver fibrosis

A new compound has been invented to bind to liver cells that are in the early stages of damage, thus making it easier to pick them up using MRI (magnetic resonance imaging).

30 Oct 2019

Studies support use of proton radiation therapy to treat patients with fatal type of liver cancer

Two new studies support and inform the use of proton radiation therapy to treat patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, a common but often fatal type of liver cancer for which there are limited treatment options.

30 Oct 2019

MRI contrast agent enables early detection of liver disease

Researchers have developed a new MRI contrast dye that enables more accurate and safer detection of early-stage liver disease than currently approved agents.

30 Oct 2019

Cleveland Clinic successfully performs first laparoscopic living donor liver transplantation

Cleveland Clinic has successfully performed the Midwest's first purely laparoscopic living donor surgery for liver transplantation in an adult recipient.

30 Oct 2019

ACG 2019 to review latest scientific advances in diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases

More than 5,500 gastroenterologists and other health care professionals will convene at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, TX for the premier clinical gastroenterology event - the American College of Gastroenterology's 84th Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course (ACG 2019) - to review the latest scientific advances in gastrointestinal research, treatment of digestive diseases and clinical practice management.

30 Oct 2019

IU researcher receives NIH grant to perform clinical trial on cirrhosis

An Indiana University School of Medicine researcher has been awarded a five-year, $1.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for a clinical trial, aimed at providing new avenues to improve liver function for patients with alcoholic cirrhosis.

30 Oct 2019

First effective noninvasive method for diagnosing early-stage liver diseases

A safer and more sensitive contrast dye for MRI tests developed by a team led by Georgia State University researchers may provide the first effective, noninvasive method for detecting and diagnosing early-stage liver diseases, including liver fibrosis.

29 Oct 2019

Pharma sells states on ‘Netflix model’ to wipe out hep C. But at what price?

When a long, black bus bearing the logo of drugmaker AbbVie rolls through Washington state next year, it will promote a new effort to eradicate hepatitis C infections.

25 Oct 2019

SLU research halts toxic protein linked to muscular dystrophy in animal models

There is no cure or treatment for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, an illness that starts with facial, shoulder and upper arm weakness and eventually affects nearly all skeletal muscles of those with the disease.

23 Oct 2019

Half the drugs in use damage gut bacteria, says new study

A startling presentation at UEG Week 2019, in Barcelona, reveals that the gut microbiome is at high risk for damage each time we use a drug from one or more of 18 commonly used groups. The effects may range from changes in the relative proportions of different beneficial and potentially harmful species to alterations in the cellular metabolism of the bacteria themselves.

23 Oct 2019

Study shows why fatty liver disease contributes to increase in liver cancer

Fatty liver disease is contributing to an increase in liver cancer and basic scientists at The University of Texas Health Science at Houston have new insight as to why.

16 Oct 2019

Researchers track cell family trees to discover their role in tissue scarring and liver disease

Researchers have discovered that a key cell type involved in liver injury and cancer consists of two cellular families with different origins and functions.

15 Oct 2019

Overdose prevention should also focus on alcohol use, study suggests

For several years, the national spotlight has shone on the need to prevent and rapidly treat opioid overdoses. But a new study suggests a need for more focus on the risk of alcohol overdoses among people who use opioids of all kinds, as well as cocaine, marijuana and certain prescription drugs.

14 Oct 2019

SOX9 broadly modifies the severity of Alagille syndrome liver disease in mice

Alagille syndrome is a rare pediatric genetic disorder that can affect the liver, heart, kidneys, blood vessels, skeleton and other tissues.

11 Oct 2019

Newly tested medical device mimics the effects of traditional bariatric surgery in rodents

New research from King's College London published in EBioMedicine, has found that a newly tested medical device, called Sleeveballoon, mimics the effects of traditional bariatric surgery in rodents and produces impressive results on body weight, fatty liver and diabetes control.

11 Oct 2019

Cell discovery could help fight against liver disease

Scientists have identified new sub-types of cells that, when they interact, accelerate the scarring process in diseased livers.

9 Oct 2019

RACP marks anniversary of NT alcohol laws with renewed push to roll out minimum pricing signals

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) has marked the first anniversary of minimum pricing in the Northern Territory with a renewed push to roll out pricing signals nationally that will help prevent disease, deaths and other alcohol harm.

4 Oct 2019

Study explores how macrophage specialization gets disrupted by liver disease

Every tissue in the human body has an immune cell in it called a macrophage. Macrophages play important roles in the immune system's initial response to bacteria, viruses and wounds.

4 Oct 2019

Head and neck melanoma among pediatric and young adult populations up by 51%

Head and neck melanoma among pediatric, adolescent and young adult populations in the United States and Canada increased by 51.1% from 1995 to 2014, per research from Saint Louis University.

3 Oct 2019