Direct-acting antiviral treatment for patients with type C liver cirrhosis not only improves the liver function, but also reduces the myostatin level, which is associated with muscle atrophy. Therefore, antiviral therapy may improve sarcopenia associated with chronic liver disease.

This paper examines the significance of weight loss achieved by following a low-carbohydrate diet in metabolic dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease patients. Using magnetic resonance imaging and Fibroscan®, it was found that patients who lost weight showed improvements in liver fibrosis, steatosis, and alanine transaminase.

Mortality from disease-specific causes in 4528 metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD) was analyzed, stratified by the degrees of liver fibrosis using the Fibrosis-4 (FIB-4) and FIB-3 indices. Among the 4528 patients, 514/551 (93.3%) died from non–liver-related causes during the follow-up period. Multivariable analysis showed that the progression of liver fibrosis severity was not associated with mortality from non–liver-related causes in MASLD.

MASLD is an independent risk factor for gallstones compared with non-SLD and MetALD; patients with MetALD had a similar risk for gallstones to non-SLD patients. Hypertension is the most significant cardiometabolic risk factor for gallstones in patients with MASLD, managing hypertension may be crucial for reducing gallstone risk.

Systemic inflammation may play a pivotal role in the clinical deterioration of liver cirrhosis, and interleukin-6 is a key mediator of the cytokine network in acute inflammation. This study identified serum interleukin-6 level as a novel biomarker for predicting further decompensation, and liver-related and all-cause mortalities in patients with liver cirrhosis.

The impact of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection control on prognosis after surgery for intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas (ICCs) is unclear. We revealed that the achievement of sustained viral reaction for HCV infection is associated with a better prognosis for HCV-related ICCs, particularly solitary ICC without lymph node metastasis.

This multicenter retrospective study evaluated durvalumab plus tremelimumab for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma in real-world practice. Results demonstrated that immune checkpoint inhibitors could be safely readministered after immune-mediated adverse events in carefully selected patients. The combination therapy showed clinical benefit in select patients previously treated with atezolizumab plus bevacizumab.

The liver-to-spleen ratio (LSR) is a parameter obtained from preoperative magnetic resonance imaging. Low LSR was an independent predictor of intrahepatic recurrence after liver surgery for liver cancer and particularly associated with late recurrence developing more than 1 year after surgery. This result suggested that LSR reflects liver damage and is associated with a risk of de novo cancer development in the remnant liver after surgery.

We investigated the impact of infusion timing for atezolizumab plus bevacizumab combination therapy on unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Morning administration resulted in significantly better median progression-free survival (PFS), objective response rate, and disease control rate compared with afternoon administration. ICI, immune checkpoint inhibitor.

Vascular endothelial growth factor secreted by cancer cells and tumor-associated macrophages was associated with drug resistance and malignant behaviors in lenvatinib-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma cells through the Akt/mTOR signal pathway.

The revised Japanese deceased donor liver transplantation (DDLT) criteria may significantly benefit the majority of Child–Pugh classification B patients with hepatocellular carcinoma. However, careful decision-making and appropriate measures are essential for DDLT registration, as there is a possibility of disease progression or recurrence beyond the Japan criteria during the waiting period.