Review key highlights from all the exciting clinical research presented at The Liver Meeting® 2019.

At the 2019 Leon Schiff State-of-the-Art Lecture, our selected speaker will provide a thorough overview of the advances in knowledge of the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The lecture will explore current data on evidence-based treatment of this disease, including novel molecular therapies and advances in precision oncology.

Digest a debrief of the newest data on the treatment of viral hepatitis presented at The Liver Meeting.

Harriet Gaskell, Xiaodong Ge, Romain Desert, Sukanta Das, Hui Han, Daniel Lantvit, Grace Guzman, Natalia Nieto – 12 November 2019 – Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a metabolic disorder in which poor nutrition and the gut‐to‐liver interaction play a major role. We previously established that hepatic high mobility group box‐1 (HMGB1) is involved in chronic liver disease. HMGB1 increases in patients with NASH and it is expressed in intestinal epithelial cells (IEC); yet, the role of intestinal HMGB1 in the pathogenesis of NASH has not been investigated.

Kerstin Schneeberger, Natalia Sánchez‐Romero, Shicheng Ye, Frank G. Steenbeek, Loes A. Oosterhoff, Iris Pla Palacin, Chen Chen, Monique E. Wolferen, Gilles Tienderen, Ruby Lieshout, Haaike Colemonts‐Vroninks, Imre Schene, Ruurdtje Hoekstra, Monique M.A. Verstegen, Luc J.W. Laan, Louis C. Penning, Sabine A. Fuchs, Hans Clevers, Joery De Kock, Pedro M. Baptista, Bart Spee – 12 November 2019

Giuseppe Cullaro, Rajani Sharma, Jonel Trebicka, Andrés Cárdenas, Elizabeth C. Verna – 12 November 2019 – Acute‐on‐chronic liver failure (ACLF) is a feared complication that can develop at any stage of chronic liver disease. The incidence of ACLF is increasing, leading to a significant burden to both the affected individual and health care systems. To date, our understanding of ACLF suggests that it may be initiated by precipitants such as systemic infection, alcohol use, or viral hepatitis.

Po‐Hsun Huang, Chien‐Chang Liao, Meng‐Hsiang Chen, Tung‐Liang Huang, Chao‐Long Chen, Hsin‐You Ou, Yu‐Fan Cheng – 12 November 2019 – Image evaluation of the vascular architecture is essential before living donor liver transplantation (LDLT). However, the use of contrast‐enhanced study in recipients with impaired renal function is limited due to the risk of acute kidney injury and nephrogenic systemic fibrosis. Therefore, a contrast medium–free method is both valuable and necessary for preoperative vascular evaluation.

Markus Cornberg, Anna Suk‐Fong Lok, Norah A. Terrault, Fabien Zoulim, the 2019 EASL‐AASLD HBV Treatment Endpoints Conference Faculty – 12 November 2019 – Representatives from academia, industry, regulatory agencies, and patient groups convened in March 2019 with the primary goal of developing agreement on chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) treatment endpoints to guide clinical trials aiming to “cure” HBV. Agreement among the conference participants was reached on some key points.

Richard Curnock, Nigel D. Heaton, Hector Vilca‐Melendez, Anil Dhawan, Nedim Hadzic, Roshni Vara – 12 November 2019 – Liver transplantation (LT) for patients with propionic acidemia (PA) is an emerging therapeutic option. We present a retrospective review of patients with PA who underwent LT at a tertiary liver center between 1995 and 2015. A total of 14 children were identified (8 males) with median age at initial presentation of 3 days (range, 0‐77 days).

Harmful alcohol use accounts for three million annual global deaths. Experts discuss the global health burden of alcohol-related liver disease (ALD), reporting on ALD’s impact in Africa, Latin America and Asia, region-specific factors that promote or hinder solutions and how forthcoming AASLD guidance on ALD may serve as a template to implement effective prevention and treatment strategies worldwide.