Homie Razavi, Antoine C. ElKhoury, Elamin Elbasha, Chris Estes, Ken Pasini, Thierry Poynard, Ritesh Kumar – 22 December 2012 – Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a leading cause of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplantation. A better understanding of HCV disease progression and the associated cost can help the medical community manage HCV and develop treatment strategies in light of the emergence of several potent anti‐HCV therapies. A system dynamic model with 36 cohorts was used to provide maximum flexibility and improved forecasting.

Yoichi Hiasa, Hironori Ochi, Masashi Hirooka – 22 December 2012

Hiroyuki Tsuchiya, Kentaro Kogure, Goshi Shiota – 22 December 2012

Nadia Panera, Sara Ceccarelli, Cristiano Stefanis, Valerio Nobili, Anna Alisi – 22 December 2012

James E. Everhart, Elizabeth C. Wright – 19 December 2012 – Increased γ‐glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity is associated with liver injury and with mortality in the general population. Less is known about its association with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) outcomes. We examined GGT as a predictor of both virological response to treatment and long‐term clinical outcomes in the Hepatitis C Anti‐viral Treatment Against Cirrhosis Trial (HALT‐C).

Shao‐Jung Lo, Li‐Ching Fan, Yow‐Fu Tsai, Kuo‐Yang Lin, Hsiao‐Ling Huang, Tong‐Hong Wang, Hsuan Liu, Tse‐Chin Chen, Shiu‐Fen Huang, Chee‐Jen Chang, Yu‐Jr Lin, Benjamin Yat‐Ming Yung, Sen‐Yung Hsieh – 19 December 2012 – Death evasion is crucial for both carcinogenesis and resistance to anticancer therapies. Recently, we identified nucleophosmin (NPM) as a key factor counteracting death stimuli in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells. Here we report the identification of a novel NPM‐BCL2‐associated X protein (BAX) pathway orchestrating death evasion in human HCC cells.

Jiansheng Huang, Emily Barr, David A. Rudnick – 19 December 2012 – The studies reported here were undertaken to define the regulation and functional importance of zinc‐dependent histone deacetylase (Zn‐HDAC) activity during liver regeneration using the mouse partial hepatectomy (PH) model. The results showed that hepatic HDAC activity was significantly increased in nuclear and cytoplasmic fractions following PH.

Na Cheng, Yandong Li, Ze‐Guang Han – 19 December 2012 – Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common cancers and shows a propensity to metastasize and infiltrate adjacent and more distant tissues. However, the mechanisms that contribute to tumor metastasis remain unclear. Here we evaluate the effect of Argonaute2 (Ago2), a member of the Ago gene family that plays a role in short interfering RNA‐mediated gene silencing, on HCC tumorigenesis, and metastasis. We found that Ago2 was frequently up‐regulated in HCC specimens compared to that in corresponding adjacent nontumor liver.

Minjun Chen, Jürgen Borlak, Weida Tong – 19 December 2012 – Drug‐induced liver injury (DILI) is a leading cause of drug failure in clinical trials and a major reason for drug withdrawals from the market. Although there is evidence that dosages of ≥100 mg/day are associated with increased risk for hepatotoxicity, many drugs are safe at such dosages. There is an unmet need to predict risk for DILI more reliably, and lipophilicity might be a contributing factor.

James E. Everhart, Elizabeth C. Wright – 19 December 2012 – Increased γ‐glutamyl transferase (GGT) activity is associated with liver injury and with mortality in the general population. Less is known about its association with chronic hepatitis C (HCV) outcomes. We examined GGT as a predictor of both virological response to treatment and long‐term clinical outcomes in the Hepatitis C Anti‐viral Treatment Against Cirrhosis Trial (HALT‐C).