Treatment cessation in chronic HBV infection may be durable in certain patient subgroups before hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance. The role of serum HBV RNA in determining treatment cessation suitability has not been well-investigated.

Following the success of immune checkpoint blockers (ICBs) in different cancer types, a large number of studies are currently investigating ICBs in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), alone or in combination with other treatments. Both nivolumab and pembrolizumab, as well as the combination of nivolumab plus ipilimumab have been granted accelerated approval by the United States Food and Drug Administration for sorafenib-pretreated patients. While nivolumab and pembrolizumab both failed to meet their primary endpoints in phase III trials, the combination of atezolizumab plus bevacizumab eventually improved overall and progression-free survival compared with sorafenib in a front-line phase III trial, and thus, will become the new standard of care in this setting. Despite this breakthrough, there are patient populations with certain underlying conditions that may not be ideal candidates for this new treatment either due to safety concerns or potential lack of efficacy. In this review, we discuss the safety of ICBs in patients with pre-existing autoimmune disease, IBD or a history of solid organ transplantation. Moreover, we summarise emerging preclinical and clinical data suggesting that ICBs may be less efficacious in patients with underlying non-alcoholic steatohepatitis or HCCs with activated Wnt/β-catenin signalling.

There is a lack of robust data on significant gastrointestinal bleeding in older people using aspirin. We calculated the incidence, risk factors and absolute risk using data from a large randomised, controlled trial.

Chronic gastro-oesophageal reflux might lead to the development of Barrett's oesophagus (BO) or even oesophageal adenocarcinoma. There has been no definitive systematic review and meta-analysis of data to estimate global prevalence of BO or oesophageal adenocarcinoma in individuals with gastro-oesophageal reflux.

The adverse effects of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) have been documented for pneumonia; however, there is no consensus regarding whether the use of PPIs might be harmful regarding the risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. In this regard, we aimed to measure the potential associations of the current use of PPIs with the infection rates of COVID-19 among patients who underwent SARS-CoV-2 testing.

Existing scores are not accurate at predicting mortality in upper (UGIB) and lower (LGIB) gastrointestinal bleeding. We aimed to develop and validate a new pre-endoscopy score for predicting mortality in both UGIB and LGIB.

The gastric epithelium undergoes continuous turnover. Corpus epithelial stem cells located in the gastric isthmus serve as a source of tissue self-renewal. We recently identified the transcription factor Mist1 as a marker for this corpus stem cell population that can give rise to cancer. The aim here was to investigate the regulation of the Mist1+ stem cells in the response to gastric injury and inflammation.

Central reading, that is, independent, off-site, blinded review or reading of imaging endpoints, has been identified as a crucial component in the conduct and analysis of inflammatory bowel disease clinical trials. Central reading is the final step in a workflow that has many parts, all of which can be improved. Furthermore, the best reading algorithm and the most intensive central reader training cannot make up for deficiencies in the acquisition stage (clinical trial endoscopy) or improve on the limitations of the underlying score (outcome instrument). In this review, academic and industry experts review scoring systems, and propose a theoretical framework for central reading that predicts when improvements in statistical power, affecting trial size and chances of success, can be expected: Multireader models can be conceptualised as statistical or non-statistical (social). Important organisational and operational factors, such as training and retraining of readers, optimal bowel preparation for colonoscopy, video quality, optimal or at least acceptable read duration times and other quality control matters, are addressed as well. The theory and practice of central reading and the conduct of endoscopy in clinical trials are interdisciplinary topics that should be of interest to many, regulators, clinical trial experts, gastroenterology societies and those in the academic community who endeavour to develop new scoring systems using traditional and machine learning approaches.

Alcohol-related liver disease (ALD) is a global healthcare problem with limited treatment options. Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT, encoded by SERPINA1) shows potent anti-inflammatory activities in many preclinical and clinical trials. In our study, we aimed to explore the role of AAT in ALD.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is an increasing healthcare burden worldwide. We examined the role of dietary cholesterol in driving NAFLD-HCC through modulating gut microbiota and its metabolites.