The 73rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) takes place on November 4th-8th in Washington DC. As many as 10,000 attendees will convene in an effort to advance and disseminate the science and practice of hepatology, and to promote liver health and quality patient care. Key Opinion Leaders Stephen Harrison, Jörn Schattenberg and patient advocate Jeff McIntyre join Roger Green to preview key presentations and posters of interest.
This conversation continues from the theme that NAFLD is not a disease of affluence. Roger notes data from Zobair Younossi which reveals extremely high rates of NAFLD in the Middle East and North Africa region – a region recognized for the wealth of its residents. Jeff connects this prevalence to growth in easy-to-access, overprocessed, low nutrition foods. “If anything, it is not a question of ease of access, but which foods are easy to access.” He is enthusiastic that with the possibility of earlier diagnosis in identifying F2 patients, earlier intervention can follow.
Jörn suggests another issue that might help: NAFLD is a precursor to hepatic cell carcinoma (HCC). For many patients, HCC comes before progression to cirrhosis. Roger expands this observation, noting NAFLD to be a predictor of a range of non-liver cancers in addition. Stephen expresses the need to draw attention to treating Fatty Liver, which is the “canary in the metabolic dysregulation coal mine.” He says that if all we do is raise awareness of the need to treat, we have accomplished quite a lot.
Roger briefly references posters that take innovative looks at how to create inexpensive, widely available screening through tests and/or analysis of medical records. At the end, he invites everyone back next week to discuss more of the presentations and this data-rich, insight-laden conference. The closing question explores one important thought about the meeting each panelist wants to raise before the next preview discussion.