Given the vast amount of information and insight from The Liver Meeting, this episode sought to identify and explore a few key highlights. The panel (Jörn Schattenberg, William Alazawi, Naim Alkhouri, Laurent Castera, Ken Cusi, Wayne Eskridge and Roger Green) addresses several topics from the program.
This final conversation examines the diversity of populations with NASH and other ways we can learn from and about them. Naim begins by discussing work with pediatric NASH, specifically noting the shortcomings of NITs for these patients. Ken and Roger note the diverse forms of NASH, including both lean and pediatric, that are receiving increasing attention. Roger also recalls the SPLENDOR Study and what it tells us about the ability of bariatric surgery-driven 20% weight loss to regress fibrosis in non-cirrhotic patients. The group touches briefly on Scott Friedman’s observation from last week’s coverage about the impact of environmental factors on the microbiome and how that might affect these metabolic issues.
Roger closes by asking the group for one thing, besides a drug approval, that will change how we think about or treat this disease in the next year. Surf on to discover their predictions.