Patrick Grierson, Danielle Crites, Marianna B. Ruzinova, Motoyo Yano, Kian‐Huat Lim – 19 December 2017 – There are few effective therapies for unresectable or metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma. Recent data have demonstrated efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade in this difficult to treat disease; however, clinical experience is limited. We report a case of hepatocellular carcinoma displaying pseudoprogression followed by a late response with novel magnetic resonance imaging features following treatment with the anti‐programmed cell death protein 1 agent pembrolizumab.

19 December 2017

19 December 2017

Aleksey Novikov, Robert E. Schwartz, Saurabh Mukewar, Robert S. Brown, Clara Tow, Nicholas Russo, Russell Rosenblatt, Shawn Shah, Nicole T. Shen, Yecheskel Schneider, Vikas Gupta – 19 December 2017

19 December 2017

Miguel Á. Manzanares, Deanna J.W. Campbell, Gabrielle T. Maldonado, Alphonse E. Sirica – 18 December 2017 – Periostin and mesothelin have each been suggested to be predictors of poor survival for patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, although the clinical prognostic value of both of these biomarkers remains uncertain. The aim of the current study was to investigate these biomarkers for their potential to act as tumor progression factors when assessed in orthotopic tumor and three‐dimensional culture models of rat cholangiocarcinoma progression.

Qian Zhao, Xinyue Tang, Jiansheng Wu – 18 December 2017

Eunjeong Kim, Donghyo Kim, Jeon‐Soo Lee, Jeehyun Yoe, Jongmin Park, Chang‐Jin Kim, Dongjun Jeong, Sanguk Kim, Yoontae Lee – 18 December 2017 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is developed by multiple steps accompanying progressive alterations of gene expression, which leads to increased cell proliferation and malignancy. Although environmental factors and intracellular signaling pathways that are critical for HCC progression have been identified, gene expression changes and the related genetic factors contributing to HCC pathogenesis are still insufficiently understood.

Jonathan Quinet, Catherine Jamard, Madeleine Burtin, Matthieu Lemasson, Sylviane Guerret, Camille Sureau, Andrew Vaillant, Lucyna Cova – 18 December 2017 – Nucleic acid polymer (NAP) REP 2139 treatment was shown to block the release of viral surface antigen in duck HBV (DHBV)‐infected ducks and in patients with chronic HBV or HBV/hepatitis D virus infection. In this preclinical study, a combination therapy consisting of REP 2139 with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) and entecavir (ETV) was evaluated in vivo in the chronic DHBV infection model.

Xiantong Zou, Prakash Ramachandran, Timothy J. Kendall, Antonella Pellicoro, Elena Dora, Rebecca L. Aucott, Kajal Manwani, Tak Yung Man, Karen E. Chapman, Neil C. Henderson, Stuart J. Forbes, Scott P. Webster, John P. Iredale, Brian R. Walker, Zoi Michailidou – 18 December 2017 – A hallmark of chronic liver injury is fibrosis, with accumulation of extracellular matrix orchestrated by activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Glucocorticoids limit HSC activation in vitro, and tissue glucocorticoid levels are amplified by 11beta‐hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase‐1 (11βHSD1).