Publications by authors named "Jose D Debes"

Background And Aims: The germline variant patatin-like phospholipase domain-containing protein 3 ()-rs738409 (I148M) is associated with a higher risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in European and East Asian populations, but its association with HCC in Africans has not been investigated. We examined the association between -rs738409 and HCC risk in Ghanaian and Nigerian populations, compared to a U.S.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is associated with a poor 5-year survival mainly due to detection at late stages. Better non-invasive surveillance methods are needed to improve early detection and maximize survival. We performed a strict assessment of DNA methylation markers (DMMs) for HCC detection.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Purpose: Sub-Saharan Africa carries one of the highest burdens of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in the world, with hepatitis B virus (HBV) as the most common cause. Studies in several regions of the world suggest important cancer differences in rural versus urban settings, but limited studies have been performed in Africa.

Methods: We performed a scoping review and pooled analysis of studies on HCC in Africa.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Recent advances in the systemic treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with immunotherapy have once again reignited discussion over the role of combined therapy in earlier stages. This year, different international meetings have presented recent results from clinical trials on adjuvant therapy alone (IMBrave-050) and combined with transarterial chemoembolization (EMERALD-1 and LEAP-12). Increased enthusiasm for the use of adjuvant and neoadjuvant therapy for liver transplantation, surgery, and local-regional treatment of HCC has been shown.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) represents a global health challenge, with rising incidence and mortality rates. This study aimed to elucidate the clinical course and practices of CCA in Latin America.

Methods: This observational cohort study investigated individuals diagnosed with CCA between 2010 and 2023 at five referral centres across Latin America.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Sub-Saharan Africa has a high burden of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The lack of surveillance programs has led to low rates of diagnosis and treatment, particularly in rural areas. We conducted mobile HBV-HCC screening clinics in rural Tanzania between March 2021 and February 2023.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF
Article Synopsis
  • - The study examined how palliative care, race, and socioeconomic status affect the use of invasive procedures in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), using data from hospitalizations between 2016 and 2019.
  • - Results showed that 18.1% of HCC hospitalizations involved palliative care, which was linked to fewer invasive procedures in terminal cases, while Black and Hispanic patients were more likely to undergo aggressive treatments compared to white patients.
  • - Palliative care not only led to less aggressive end-of-life care but also resulted in lower hospitalization costs for both terminal and nonterminal cases, highlighting its importance in managing HCC patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common causes of cancer-related mortality. This particular type of cancer has the distinctive characteristic of mostly happening in individuals with an underlying liver disease. This makes the management of patients more challenging, since physicians must take into consideration two different conditions, the chronic liver disease and the tumor.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Prior assessments of critical care outcomes in patients with cirrhosis have shown conflicting results. We aimed to provide nationwide generalizable results of critical care outcomes in patients with decompensated cirrhosis.

Methods: This is a retrospective study using the National Inpatient Sample from 2016 to 2019.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The WHO aims to detect 90% of global cases of hepatitis B virus (HBV) by 2030. Sub-Saharan Africa carries a disproportionate burden of HBV and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In this study, we sought to assess the utility of a combined HBV and HCC screening program in Tanzania.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction And Objectives: Tolloid like protein 1 (TLL1) rs17047200 has been reported to be associated with HCC development and liver fibrosis. However, to our knowledge, no studies have been performed on Latin Americans and comparative differences between TLL1 rs17047200 in HCC patients from Latin America and Europe are undefined.

Materials And Methods: Cross-sectional analysis was performed on Latin American and European individuals.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Aberrant DNA methylation changes have been reported to be associated with carcinogenesis in cirrhotic HCC, but DNA methylation patterns for these non-cirrhotic HCC cases were not examined. Therefore, we sought to investigate DNA methylation changes on non-cirrhotic HCC using reported promising DNA methylation markers (DMMs), including HOXA1, CLEC11A, AK055957, and TSPYL5, on 146 liver tissues using quantitative methylation-specific PCR and methylated DNA sequencing. We observed a high frequency of aberrant methylation changes in the four DMMs through both techniques in non-cirrhotic HCC compared to cirrhosis, hepatitis, and benign lesions ( < 0.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide. The rs7574865 genetic variant has been associated with an increased risk of developing HCC in Asian populations. However, this association has not been studied in Latin America and is poorly assessed in European populations.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: HCC is a major cause of cancer death worldwide. Serum biomarkers such as alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), protein induced by vitamin K absence-II, and the Gender, Age, AFP-L3, AFP, Des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (GALAD) score have been recommended for HCC surveillance. However, inconsistent recommendations in international guidelines limit their clinical utility.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

There is a lack of real-world data on hepatitis B (HBV) treatment in Africa. We conducted a single-center 18-month prospective cohort study in Ethiopia to understand clinical, laboratory, and demographic variables associated with HBV treatment. One hundred fifty HBV-positive patients were included: 51 on treatment, 99 with no treatment.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The rs641738 C > T single-nucleotide polymorphism of MBOAT7 has been associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Latin Americans have high rates of HCC and NAFLD, but no assessment between MBOAT7 and HCC has been performed in this population.

Aims: We provide the first assessment of the impact of MBOAT7 on HCC risk in Latin Americans.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) do not respond to hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination as efficiently as the general population. We assessed if revaccination after HCV treatment resulted in improved response.

Methods: Previous HBV vaccine nonresponders were prospectively recruited for revaccination after HCV eradication.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver malignancy and has a poor prognosis. Epigenetic modification has been shown to be deregulated during HCC development by dramatically impacting the differentiation, proliferation, and function of cells. One important epigenetic modification is DNA methylation during which methyl groups are added to cytosines without changing the DNA sequence itself.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The burden of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in South America is among the highest in the world. However, the epidemiology and risk factors for NAFLD are insufficiently described in the region.

Aim: To explore the associations between clinical characteristics and histopathological features of NAFLD METHODS: This was a descriptive study of 2722 patients with NAFLD from 8 medical centres across 5 South American countries.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common cause of cancer-related death worldwide, with high rates of late diagnosis and increased mortality in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, there is an alarming uptrend in the incidence of early onset colorectal cancer (EOCRC) across the globe, thus necessitating the need for early screening in general and special populations. There is, however, limited data available on the incidence and genetic characteristics of EOCRC from resource-poor countries, particularly Africa.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Genomic analysis of hepatitis B virus (HBV) identifies phylogenetic variants, which may lead to distinct biological and clinical behaviors. The satellite hepatitis D virus (HDV) may also influence clinical outcomes in patients with hepatitis B. The aim of this study was to investigate HBV genetic variants, including clinically relevant mutations, and HDV infection in acute and chronic hepatitis B patients in central Argentina.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF