20 WORLD GASTROENTEROLOGY NEWS JANUARY 2015 Editorial | Expert Point of View | Gastro 2015: AGW/WGO | WDHD News | WGO & WGOF News | WGO Global Guidelines | Calendar of Events Refresh Time. (Harbor Side, 1F, Kaohsiung Exhibition Center). Professor Hashem B. El-Serag, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. Professor Wan-Long Chuang, Kaohsiung Medi-cal University Hospital, Taiwan. established interventions reflects the high rates of metastasis and recur-rence. Professor Jessica Zucman-Rossi, INSERM, France, and Dr. Anuradha Budhu, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland, USA, explained how high-throughput technologies such as exome sequencing and me-tabolomics are revealing the genetic pathways of carcinogenesis and identi-fying new biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Helicobacter Pylori and Gastric Cancer Prevention The GEST press conference focused on preventing gastric cancer through eradicating Helicobacter pylori. Japan and Taiwan have implemented national health insurance funded eradication programs. Professor Emeritus Kentaro Sugano, Jichi Medical University, Japan, reported that more than 1 million Japanese per year are being treated, with declining expenditure on treating peptic ulcers indicating that a sharp decline in the incidence of gastric cancer is an-ticipated. In Taiwan, patients treated for H. pylori had lower incidence of gastric atrophy and reduced rates of gastric cancer than controls. Based on this success, the International Agency for Research on Cancer invited Dr. Yi-Chia Lee, National Taiwan Uni-versity Hospital, Taiwan, to its 2013 consensus meeting, and has incorpo-rated the Taiwan experience into its global disease management report. Horizons in Hepatitis B and C Although HBV is the principal cause of HCC in Asia, the threat of HCV-associated HCC cannot be ignored. Professor Kazuhiko Koike, University of Tokyo, Japan, drew attention to the very high incidence of HCC in Japanese patients with chronic HCV (CHC); nearly 90% with HCV-as-sociated cirrhosis develop HCC after 15 years, with inflammation, genetic predisposition, metabolism, gender, and age influencing rates of carcino-genesis. Professor Wan-Long Chuang, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospi-tal, Taiwan, reviewed studies in which triple antiviral therapies with simepre-vir and sofosbuvir added to PEG/IFN plus ribavirin have increased response rates in CHC. New US guidelines endorse these triple therapies as stan-dard of care; however, direct antivirals are expensive and not widely available in Asia, where PEG/IFN plus riba-virin remains the routine treatment and has a higher response rate than in non-Asian patients. Looking to the future, Dr. Donald M. Jensen, Uni-versity of Chicago Medical Center, Illinois, USA, envisioned a new era in HCV therapy with all-oral interferon-free combinations administered for 12 weeks or less with negligible side effects and cure rates exceeding 90%. Associate Professor Sang Hoon Ahn, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, Professor Man-Fung Yuen, University of Hong Kong, and Professor Yun-Fan Liaw, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, assessed current HBV therapies and advocated for the need for an individualized approach to achieve optimal outcomes. Response rates can be improved by patient selection, extended therapy, and early discontinuation based on HBV surface antigen kinetics. Nucleot(s) ide analogues are better tolerated than PEG/IFN, but must be used carefully, especially in patients of reproduc-tive age. Liver failure due to hepatic decompensation following HBV-reac-tivation is common in HBV endemic regions and has a high mortality. Prognostic scoring systems can help to predict which patients’ antiviral therapy will benefit most. CHB pa-
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