NCT05165446

Novel MRE Technique to Assess a Risk Factor for Liver Cancer

Novel MRE Technique to Assess Tissue Viscoelasticity as a Risk Factor for Liver Cancer

• Status: Active Not Recruiting
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 35 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Natalie Torok · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 99 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The aim of this proposal is to investigate a novel imaging method to identify patients with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) who are at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Detailed description

NASH is the most common cause of chronic liver disease, and it is estimated that 40-50% of patients with obesity and T2DM have NASH. NASH can lead to HCC with the risk increasing 2-3 fold in patient with poor glycemic control. Unless caught early, HCC has a poor prognosis with no effective therapies. A unique feature of HCC in NASH is that it often arises at a pre-cirrhotic stage, and the prognosis is often dismal. There are no current surveillance strategies for these pre-cirrhotic patients. Based on our animal models and pilot patient studies, we developed a novel paradigm that linked liver matrix changes to a more aggressive HCC phenotype. Our goal is to develop an imaging-based surveillance tool that will identify early matrix changes that may predispose to HCC.

Conditions

• NASH - Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-01-27
• Primary completion: 2024-01-01
• Completion: 2025-09-30
• First posted: 2021-12-21
• Last updated: 2025-08-29

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States