Identification of a bile acid and bile salt metabolism-related lncRNA signature for predicting prognosis and treatment response in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Bile acids and salts have been shown to play a role in liver carcinogenesis through DNA damage, inflammation, and tumor proliferation. However, the correlation between bile acid metabolism and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) prognosis remains unclear. This study aimed to identify a predictive signature of bile acid and bile salt metabolism-related long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) for HCC prognosis and treatment response. The study used HCC RNA-sequencing data and corresponding clinical and prognostic data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. A prognostic model consisting of five bile acid and bile salt metabolism-related lncRNAs was developed and evaluated in a training set, a validation set and an external set. The model demonstrated good performance in predicting HCC prognosis and was shown to be an independent biomarker for prognosis. Additionally, our study revealed a significant association between the signature and immune cell infiltration, as well as its predictive value for therapeutic responses to both immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Furthermore, three LncRNAs (LUCAT1, AL031985.3 and AC015908.3) expression levels in our signature were validated through qRT-PCR in a cohort of 50 pairs of HCC patient tumor samples and corresponding adjacent non-tumor samples, along with 10 samples of normal liver tissue adjacent to benign lesions. These findings suggest that this novel bile acid and bile salt metabolism-related lncRNA signature can independently predict the prognosis of patients with HCC and may be utilized as a potential predictor of response to treatment in this setting.

Correlations between serum hepatitis B core-related antigen and hepatitis B surface antigen in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis and a hepatitis B virus-DNA-negative status: a retrospective study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the correlations between serum hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) and hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) titers in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis and a hepatitis B virus (HBV)-DNA-negative status. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the data and blood samples of patients who were diagnosed with HBV liver cirrhosis and an HBV-DNA negative status. These patients were hospitalized between October 2018 and October 2019 at one hospital. RESULTS: A total of 180 patients were included. The median (interquartile range) HBsAg and HBcrAg concentrations were 2.77 log10 IU/mL (1.60-3.15) and 3.96 log10 U/mL (2.70-4.97), respectively. A non-linear significant relationship was found between HBsAg and HBcrAg concentrations. The inflection point was 0.58. The effect size and confidence interval on the left and right sides of the inflection point were 0.10 (-0.23-0.42) and 0.62 (0.46-0.78), respectively. When HBsAg concentrations were ≥0.58 log10 IU/mL, HBsAg concentrations were positively correlated with HBcrAg concentrations. When HBsAg concentrations increased by 1 log10 IU/mL, HBcrAg concentrations increased by 0.62 log10 U/mL (95% confidence interval: 0.46, 0.78). CONCLUSIONS: There might be a non-linear relationship between HBcrAg and HBsAg concentrations in patients with hepatitis B cirrhosis and an HBV-DNA-negative status.

Liver cirrhosis in a patient with hepatic hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia and Budd-Chiari syndrome: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) often involves the liver, and belongs to abnormal blood vessel disease. The etiology of Budd-Chiari syndrome (BCS) is not clear, but congenital vascular dysplasia is considered to be one of the causes. Liver cirrhosis due to hepatic hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia concomitant with BCS has not been reported. Here, we report a case of cirrhosis with hepatic hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHHT) and BCS. CASE PRESENTATION: A 58-year-old woman with hepatic hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia showed decompensated liver cirrhosis, and abdominal imaging revealed Budd-Chiari syndrome. Disease has progressed considerably during 2.5 years after hospital discharge despite subsequent transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunting (TIPS). One hypothesis that might explain the coexistence of hepatic hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia and Budd-Chiari syndrome in this patient is ischemia and thrombosis of hepatic veins. CONCLUSIONS: Further studies are required to evaluate the relationship between HHHT and BCS. Our observations already challenged the TIPS therapeutic strategy in BCS secondary to HHHT patients.

ART score and hepatocellular carcinoma: An appraisal of its applicability.

BACKGROUND: Assessment for retreatment with TACE (ART) score evaluates whether hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients can benefit from transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) retreatments. As previously reported, TACE has a good prognostic effect on patients with ART score of 0-1.5, while patients with ART score≥2.5 might have minor or even no prognostic benefits. Our study verified whether ART score can guide multiple TACE retreatments in Chinese patients presenting with HCC. METHOD: Nine hundred and thirty-four patients presenting with HCC and treated with TACE were recruited from January 2008 to June 2012, at which point 137 patients had been treated with TACE at least twice and could be assessed by ART score. Patients were assessed by ART score before the second, third, and fourth TACE treatment, and divided into 0-1.5 group and ≥2.5 group. Overall survival (OS) of both groups was compared, and patients were further evaluated on whether TACE retreatment was beneficial. RESULTS: Before the second, third, fourth TACE treatment, the median OS (95% CI) was respectively 25.0 (21.1-28.0) months, 29.0 (22.0-36.0) months and 24.3 (8.2-40.4) months for patients with ART score 0-1.5. 18.0 (14.5-21.5) months, 14.0 (6.4-21.6) months and 22.0 (11.8-32.3) months for patients with ART score ≥2.5. (P values were 0.036, 0.011 and 0.152 respectively). CONCLUSION: Our results are consistent with previous study that before TACE treatment, patients should be assessed by ART score, and those with ART score 0-1.5 had superior prognosis as compared those with an ART score ≥2.5.