Coverage of the 2012 AASLD Liver Meeting

HIVandHepatitis.com coverage of the 63rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD 2012) in Boston, November 9-13, 2012.

Conference highlights include treatment for hepatitis B and C, new direct-acting HCV drugs, interferon-free hepatitis C therapy, management of liver disease complications, HIV/HBV and HIV/HCV coinfection, and prevention and treatment of hepatocellular carcioma.

Full listing by topic

HIVandHepatitis.com AASLD 2012 conference section

11/13/12

Registry Data Show Hepatitis B Medications Appear Safe during Pregnancy

An analysis of data from the Antiretroviral Pregnancy Registry found no evidence that pregnant women's use of drugs to treat chronic hepatitis B -- including lamivudine (Epivir) and tenofovir (Viread) -- is associated with birth defects, according to a report in the November 2012 Journal of Hepatology.

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Liver Meeting Highlights: New Hep C Drugs, NAFLD, Liver Cancer, Acetaminophen Toxicity, Benefits of Coffee

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Liver Meeting is the premier annual U.S. conference on hepatology, covering all aspects of liver disease including viral hepatitis, fatty liver, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver transplantation. Kicking off the meeting on Saturday, AASLD President Guadalupe Garcia-Tsao offered a media overview of some highlights selected from the more than 2000 abstracts to be presented during the week.

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Hepatitis B Patients with HBeAg Seroconversion on Treatment May Not Have Durable Response

People with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) who achieve hepatitis B "e" antigen (HBeAg) seroconversion when treated with nucleoside/nucleotide analogs are more likely to experience HBeAg seroreversion and HBV reactivation than those with natural clearance, according to a study described in the November 15, 2012, Journal of Infectious Diseases.

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AASLD Liver Meeting Starts this Weekend in Boston

The American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) annual Liver Meeting is underway, running November 9-13 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. The AASLD meeting each fall and the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) International Liver Congress each spring are the premier events for presentation of the latest data on treatment for hepatitis B and C.

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Entecavir (Baraclude) Label Adds Data on Black Patients and Liver Transplant Recipients with HBV

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week approved revised product information for entecavir (Baraclude) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, adding new data from studies of African-American patients -- showing no differences in pharmacokinetics or safety -- and of people who received liver transplants.

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Antiviral Therapy Safe and Effective for Hep B Patients with Advanced Cirrhosis

Antiviral drugs including entecavir (Baraclude), lamivudine (Epivir-HBV), telbivudine (Tyzeka), and tenofovir (Viread) are generally well-tolerated and effective against hepatitis B virus (HBV) in people with liver cirrhosis, and may lower mortality even among patients with severe decompensated cirrhosis, according to 2 recently published studies.

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Entecavir Alone Works as Well as Combo for First-time Hepatitis B Treatment

Treating chronic hepatitis B with entecavir (Baraclude) alone worked as well as dual therapy using entecavir plus tenofovir (Viread) for patients starting treatment for the first time, according to a study described in the September 2012 issue of Gastroenterology.

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