Because of this limitation, we censored patients who were followed for more than 5 years. The observed treatment effect would require confirmation over a longer period and a more complete follow-up. Conducting a long-term study to examine the effect of antiviral therapy with HCC as the endpoint would be time-consuming and challenging. Such a study would require a large sample size and would, therefore, be costly. In addition, the increases in choices of

therapy over time would make it difficult to conduct a long-term study using a single therapy. Owing to ethical issues, it would be difficult to recruit or follow a naïve, untreated cohort over an extended period of time. Because of these challenges, most studies have examined the relationship between antiviral treatment and the risks BMS-777607 cell line of HCC involved selleck chemicals llc older drugs, lacked a control group, or were of relatively short duration. Consequently, the association between antiviral treatment and carcinogenesis is inferential and requires additional confirmatory studies. In conclusion, in our study we observed the effect of HCC risk among HBV-infected patients treated by ETV by comparing them with a group of NA-naïve patients. We followed these Japanese patients

for a relatively long period of time and compared them with a large pool of untreated control patients. In this long-term study among Japanese patients, ETV significantly reduced the incidence of HCC among chronic HBV-infected patients, and was more

prominent among patients at higher risk for HCC. We thank Fujio Matsuo, MSc, Executive Director, Statistical/Analysis Department, Statcom Company Limited and Yasuo Ohashi, PhD, Professor, Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Tokyo for their review and advice on statistical analyses. Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article. “
“Traditionally regarded as a typical vitamin regulating calcium and phosphorus homeostasis, vitamin D is now discovered as a highly versatile molecule with emerging roles in immunity, cancer, infectious diseases, fibrosis, fatty liver medchemexpress diseases, and alcoholic liver diseases. A large body of clinical evidence has demonstrated the prevalence and risks of vitamin D deficiency in various chronic diseases. Biologically active vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxylvitamin D3, is synthesized in two distinct systems. In addition to the classic two-step hydroxylation in the liver and kidneys, 1,25-dihydroxylvitamin D3 can also be produced locally by immune cells in response to infection. The bioactive vitamin D generated in these two pools apparently functions differently: while the former facilitates calcium adsorption and homeostasis, the latter confers immune regulation.