Prognostic ability of BCLC-B Subclassification in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Transarterial Chemoembolization.

Prognostic ability of BCLC-B Subclassification in Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma Undergoing Transarterial Chemoembolization Background and aims. A subclassification system for intermediate hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) was recently proposed to optimize treatment allocation. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic ability of that substaging proposal. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective multicenter cohort study including patients with intermediate HCC treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). Predictors of survival were identified using the Cox proportional regression model. RESULTS: 289 Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) B patients were included. Median overall survival of the whole cohort was 23 months (C.I. 95% 20.2- 25.8). Child A status (H.R. 1.35, C.I. 95% 1.02-1.78) and tumour burden beyond the up-to-seven criterion (H.R. 1.39, C.I. 95% 1.07- 1.80) were independent prognostic factors for overall survival on multivariate analysis. Analysis of the substages showed that median survival was 33.0 months for B1 stage (n = 81), 20.8 months for B2 stage (n = 106), 16.1 months for B3 stage (n = 24), 22.2 months for B4 stage (n = 42) and 15.0 months for quasi-C stage (n = 36). Regarding the discriminatory ability of the substaging proposal, the log rank test showed a significant survival difference for B1vs. B4 (p = 0.003) and B1 vs. Quasi-C (p = 0.039) and a trend for B1 vs. B2 (p = 0.05) and B1 vs. B3 (p = 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Apart from substage B1, BCLC-B subclassification does not discriminate perfectly patients treated with TACE. Also some patients in substage B4 can benefit from TACE.

Treatment of PPI-resistant gastro-oesophageal reflux: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND AND STUDY AIMS: Several studies have demonstrated the superiority of proton-pump inhibitors (PPIs) in resolving erosive gastro-oesophageal reflux disease (GORD). However, this first line of treatment can fail to control symptoms in around 30% of cases, especially in the presence of non-erosive GORD. In situations where the first line of treatment fails, there is a lack of concordance regarding the best strategy to apply. This study presents a systematic review of the trials which have tested second-line treatments after PPI failure. METHODS: The study was conducted according to the PRISMA statement. The systematic review included medical trials written in English which were published between 2000 and 2016 and were retrieved from PubMed and Scopus using the keywords 'PPI-resistant gastro-oesophageal reflux', 'alginate AND gastro-oesophageal reflux', 'hyaluronic acid AND gastro-oesophageal reflux', 'prokinetics AND gastro-oesophageal reflux', 'sucralfate AND gastro-oesophageal reflux' and 'baclofen AND gastro-oesophageal reflux'. RESULTS: Ten randomised and non-randomised studies were included, which included 1515 patients of both sexes (mean age = 49.19 years, age range = 18-85, males = 700; 46.2%). CONCLUSIONS: A personalised choice of the best treatment for PPI-resistant GORD should be based on the results of an upper endoscopy and pH/MII monitoring. For patients in situations where the first line of treatment fails, we encourage the execution of trials for testing double doses of PPIs against alternative medicaments.

The macrophage migration inhibitory factor -173G/C polymorphism is not significantly associated with necrotizing enterocolitis in preterm infants.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among premature infants. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that has been implicated in the pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel diseases. The MIF promoter contains a functionally relevant single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) G→C at position -173, with the MIF -173*C allele being associated with higher MIF expression in vitro and with higher MIF levels in vivo. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the G/C polymorphism at -173 of the MIF promoter is associated with the development of NEC. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, 107 preterm infants (GA ≤ 32 weeks), of whom 41 had NEC (NEC Stage I n = 20, Stage II n = 3, Stage III n = 18) and 66 were not affected, were genotyped for the MIF -173 SNP. MIF genotyping was carried out by PCR and DHPLC. RESULTS: We did not find significant differences in the prevalence of the -173G/C polymorphism and in the distribution of the -173 MIF genotype in infants with NEC compared to controls. Moreover, we did not observe an association between the polymorphism and mortality. CONCLUSIONS: The polymorphism -173G/C of the MIF promoter does not appear to be of major importance in the pathophysiology of NEC in preterm infants.