Search

Simple Summary: Obesity is a clear risk factor for future colorectal cancer (CRC), but its impact on mortality remains to be fully elucidated. Prior studies have had methodologic limitations, and key variables remain under-investigated. In this study of prospectively collected data from the Multiethnic Cohort, pre-diagnosis BMI trajectories were not associated with CRC-specific or all-cause mortality. Factors associated with mortality included African American race or Hawaiian ethnicity, smoking, and diabetes. Accounting for long-term BMI trajectories before diagnosis and other relevant factors demonstrates that obesity is not protective of mortality after CRC diagnosis. Background: Prior studies are inconclusive regarding the effect of obesity on mortality in persons with colorectal cancer (CRC). We sought to determine the association of pre-diagnosis body mass index (BMI) trajectories on mortality after CRC diagnosis. Methods: Utilizing the Multiethnic Cohort, we included adults aged 18–75 between 1 January 1993 and 1 January 2019 with a diagnosis of CRC and at least three available BMIs. The primary exposure, BMI, was subjected to group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM). We evaluated all-cause and CRC-specific mortality, using Cox proportional hazard (PH) models. Results: Of 924 persons, the median age was 60 years, and 54% were female. There was no statistically significant association between pre-cancer BMI trajectory and either all-cause or cancer-specific mortality. In competing risk analysis, the risk of CRC-specific mortality was higher for African Americans (HR = 1.56, 95% CI [1.00–2.43], p = 0.048) and smokers (HR = 1.59, 95% CI [1.10–2.32], p = 0.015). Risk of all-cause mortality was higher for Hawaiian persons (HR = 2.85, 95% CI [1.31–6.21], p = 0.009) and persons with diabetes (HR = 1.83, 95% CI [1.08–3.10], p = 0.026). Conclusions: Pre-diagnosis BMI trajectories were not associated with mortality after CRC diagnosis, whereas race/ethnicity, diabetes, and smoking were associated with an increased risk of death. Our findings suggest the obesity paradox alone does not account for mortality after CRC diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Venous collateral shunting of blood from the splanchnic to systemic venous systems due to portal hypertension increases the pressure in the ventral lingual venous bed. We hypothesized that the appearance of sublingual varices evaluated by pre-endoscopy/bedside visual inspection of ventrum of tongue (VIVOT) might predict the presence of esophageal varices (EVs). Methods: To test this hypothesis, we prospectively enrolled patients with cirrhosis (CP) referred for EV screening for assessment of lingual vasculature after informed consent. Non-cirrhosis control patients were also enrolled. Methods: VIVOT was scored based on the presence of vessels > 2 mm and/or serpiginous veins. VIVOT scores were then correlated with endoscopic findings. Results: A total of 59 patients with cirrhosis (Group 1) were enrolled, as were 62 patients without cirrhosis (Group 2). Group 1 consisted of 100% male patients with mean age 59.5 ± 5.4 years; 39.0% were African American (AA). Group 2 consisted of 86% male patients, 59.0 ± 13 years and 53% AA. Among Group 1 patients, varices were present in 29% (16 esophageal and 3 gastric). There were no demographic differences among Group 1 patients with or without varices. Positive VIVOT scores were associated with EVs on endoscopy in 11 of 16 patients (sensitivity 68.75%). Positive VIVOT findings were present in 8 of 40 patients without EVs (specificity 80%). False-positive VIVOT scores were present in 6 of 62 non-cirrhotic controls. Overall, the positive predictive value among patients with cirrhosis was 59% with a negative predictive value of 84%. Conclusions: VIVOT has modest values in predicting EVs and should not be used alone to stratify patients for endoscopic evaluation when elastography and laboratory tests are available; however, its use in resource-limited settings to identify high-risk patients may be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: This study evaluated comparative overall survival (OS) of United States veterans with unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC) receiving first-line (1L) atezolizumab plus bevacizumab vs. sorafenib or lenvatinib, overall and across racial and ethnic groups. Methods: In this retrospective study, patients with uHCC who initiated atezolizumab plus bevacizumab (post-2020) or sorafenib or lenvatinib (post-2018) were identified from the Veterans Health Administration National Corporate Data Warehouse (1 January 2017-31 December 2022). Patient characteristics were evaluated in the year prior to 1L treatment initiation. Kaplan-Meier and multivariable Cox regression methods were used to compare OS starting from treatment between cohorts, both overall and by race and ethnicity. Results: Among the 1874 patients included, 405 (21.6%) received 1L atezolizumab plus bevacizumab, 1016 (54.2%) received sorafenib, and 453 (24.2%) received lenvatinib, with a median follow-up time of 8.5, 7.6, and 8.2 months, respectively. Overall, patients receiving atezolizumab plus bevacizumab had longer unadjusted median OS (12.8 [95% CI: 10.6, 17.1] months) than patients receiving sorafenib (8.0 [7.1, 8.6] months) or lenvatinib (9.5 [7.8, 11.4] months; both log-rank p < 0.001). After adjustment, atezolizumab plus bevacizumab was associated with a reduced risk of death by 30% vs. sorafenib (adjusted HR: 0.70 [95% CI: 0.60, 0.82]) and by 26% vs. lenvatinib (0.74 [0.62, 0.88]; both p < 0.001). OS trends in the White, Black, and Hispanic patient cohorts were consistent with that of the overall population. Conclusions: Atezolizumab plus bevacizumab was associated with improved survival outcomes compared with sorafenib and lenvatinib in patients with uHCC, both overall and across racial and ethnic subgroups.

Glypican-3 (GPC3) is a proteoglycan with high sensitivity and specificity for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We describe the integrated development and validation of a GPC3-targeting optical imaging probe and T-cell redirecting antibody (TRAB) as a theranostic strategy for the detection and treatment of HCC. A novel TRAB targeting GPC3 on HCC tumor cells and the CD3 T-cell receptor as well as a distinct GPC3-specific optical imaging probe were developed from a short peptide. The efficacy of GPC3/CD3 TRAB was evaluated in vitro using interferon-γ release and calcein-AM assays. Patient-derived xenografts (PDX) were used to assess the in vivo efficacy of GPC3/CD3 TRAB and the GPC3 imaging probe for the detection of GPC3+ HCC. GPC3/CD3 TRAB caused a dose-dependent escalation in interferon-γ release from inactive peripheral blood T-cells (P = 0.001) and higher tumor-cell lysis (P = 0.01) compared to controls in vitro. Intratumorally injected GPC3/CD3 TRAB resulted in significant prolongation of tumor doubling time in the GPC3+ PDX mice, with an associated reduction of tumor fluorescent signal from the HiLyte 488- conjugated GPC3 specific peptide on optical imaging. HCC cell targeting using a GPC3/CD3 TRAB derived from a small peptide resulted in effective T-cell activation and induction of a cytotoxic response toward GPC3+ HCC tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo. GPC3-specific optical imaging enabled the detection of the GPC3+ HCC cells and noninvasive monitoring of tumor response to adoptive immunotherapy. The integrated development of a targeted therapeutic and molecular imaging probe provides a novel paradigm for developing cancer theranostics.

Introduction: Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACE-I) and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARB) may have hepatic benefits in patients with primarily chronic liver disease. ACE-I/ARB have not been evaluated in broad cohorts inclusive of those with decompensated cirrhosis. We analyzed the real-world association between ACE-I/ARB exposure and cirrhosis-related outcomes in a national cohort., Methods: We performed a retrospective, active comparator new user study of patients with cirrhosis in the Veterans Health Administration. We identified new initiators of ACE-I/ARB or calcium channel blockers (comparator). Inverse probability treatment weighting balanced key confounders and Cox regression evaluated the association between ACE-I/ARB and outcomes of mortality, cirrhosis decompensation, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In exploratory analysis, cause-specific competing risk models evaluated liver-related vs cardiovascular (CV)-related vs nonliver/non-CV-related mortality., Results: There were 904 ACE-I/ARB and 352 calcium channel blocker new initiators. In inverse probability treatment weighting Cox regression, ACE-I/ARB exposure was associated with reduced mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.70, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.61-0.81, P < 0.001). In patients with compensated cirrhosis, ACE-I/ARB were not associated with hepatic decompensation or HCC. Cause-specific hazard models showed ACE-I/ARB exposure was associated with reduction in nonliver/non-CV-related mortality (cause-specific HR 0.49, 95% CI 0.38-0.62, P < 0.001) but not liver-related or CV-related mortality. In Child-Turcotte-Pugh A patients, ACE-I/ARB were associated with decreased CV-related mortality (cause-specific HR 0.41, 95% CI 0.26-0.65, P < 0.001)., Discussion: ACE-I/ARB exposure was associated with reduced mortality, potentially through CV and other (renal, malignancy-related) mechanisms. In patients with compensated disease, ACE-I/ARB were not associated with hepatic decompensation or HCC. Future research should identify subsets of patients who benefit from ACE-I/ARB exposure., (Copyright © 2024 by The American College of Gastroenterology.)

Background: Fibrosis-4 (FIB4) is a recommended noninvasive test to assess hepatic fibrosis among patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). Here, we used FIB4 trajectory over time (ie, "slope" of FIB4) as a surrogate marker of liver fibrosis progression and examined if FIB4 slope is associated with clinical and genetic factors among individuals with clinically defined MASLD within the Million Veteran Program Cohort., Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, FIB4 slopes were estimated through linear regression for participants with clinically defined MASLD and FIB4 <2.67 at baseline. FIB4 slope was correlated with demographic parameters and clinical outcomes using logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models. FIB4 slope as a quantitative phenotype was used in a genome-wide association analysis in ancestry-specific analysis and multiancestry meta-analysis using METAL., Results: FIB4 slopes, generated from 98,361 subjects with MASLD (16,045 African, 74,320 European, and 7996 Hispanic), showed significant associations with sex, ancestry, and cardiometabolic risk factors (p < 0.05). FIB4 slopes also correlated strongly with hepatic outcomes and were independently associated with time to cirrhosis. Five genetic loci showed genome-wide significant associations (p < 5 × 10-8) with FIB4 slope among European ancestry subjects, including 2 known (PNPLA3 and TM6SF2) and 3 novel loci (TERT 5.1 × 10-11; LINC01088, 3.9 × 10-8; and MRC1, 2.9 × 10-9)., Conclusions: Linear trajectories of FIB4 correlated significantly with time to progression to cirrhosis, with liver-related outcomes among individuals with MASLD and with known and novel genetic loci. FIB4 slope may be useful as a surrogate measure of fibrosis progression., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)

Background: Weight loss is the mainstay of management for patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. We studied the impact of referral to MOVE!, a nationally-implemented behavioral weight loss program, on weight in MASLD patients., Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 102,294 MASLD patients from 125 Veterans Health Administration centers from 2008-2022., Results: Most patients lost no significant weight or gained weight. Increased engagement with MOVE! was associated with greater hazard of significant weight loss compared to no engagement., Conclusion: A minority of patients experienced significant weight loss through 5 years using lifestyle interventions alone., (Copyright © 2024 by The American College of Gastroenterology.)