Background and Aims: Risk stratification after cure from hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection remains a clinical challenge. We investigated the predictive value of noninvasive surrogates of portal hypertension (liver stiffness measurement [LSM] by vibration‐controlled transient elastography and von Willebrand factor/platelet count ratio [VITRO]) for development of hepatic decompensation and hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with pretreatment advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD) who achieved HCV cure. Approach and Results: A total of 276 patients with pretreatment ACLD and information on pretreatment and posttreatment follow‐up (FU)‐LSM and FU‐VITRO were followed for a median of 36.6 months after the end of interferon‐free therapy. FU‐LSM (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve [AUROC]: 0.875 [95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.796‐0.954]) and FU‐VITRO (AUROC: 0.925 [95% CI: 0.874‐0.977]) showed an excellent predictive performance for hepatic decompensation. Both parameters provided incremental information and were significantly associated with hepatic decompensation in adjusted models. A previously proposed combined approach (FU‐LSM < 12.4 kPa and/or FU‐VITRO < 0.95) to rule out clinically significant portal hypertension (CSPH, hepatic venous pressure gradient ≥10 mm Hg) at FU assigned most (57.3%) of the patients to the low‐risk group; none of these patients developed hepatic decompensation. In contrast, in patients in whom FU‐CSPH was ruled in (FU‐LSM > 25.3 kPa and/or FU‐VITRO > 3.3; 25.0% of patients), the risk of hepatic decompensation at 3 years following treatment was high (17.4%). Patients within the diagnostic gray‐zone for FU‐CSPH (17.8% of patients) had a very low risk of hepatic decompensation during FU (2.6%). The prognostic value of this algorithm was validated in an internal (n = 86) and external (n = 162) cohort. Conclusion: FU‐LSM/FU‐VITRO are strongly and independently predictive of posttreatment hepatic decompensation in HCV‐induced ACLD. An algorithm combining these noninvasive markers not only rules in or rules out FU‐CSPH, but also identifies populations at negligible versus high risk for hepatic decompensation. FU‐LSM/FU‐VITRO are readily accessible and enable risk stratification after sustained virological response, and thus facilitate personalized management.

The clinical manifestation of multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN2) in terms of developing medullary thyroid cancer (MTC), pheochromocytoma (PCC), and/or primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is related to the respective pathogenic variant of the RET proto-oncogene. The aim of this study is to retrospectively analyze the individual, genotype-dependent clinical manifestations of a large cohort of MEN2 patients. By comparing their clinical profile with currently existing evidence-based knowledge, an optimal therapy and prevention strategy in terms of prophylactic thyroidectomy and clinical follow-up could be ensured. This is a retrospective single-center study of 158 MEN2 patients who were diagnosed and/or surgically treated at a tertiary referral care center between 1990 and 2022. All participants were categorized according to their pathogenic variant of the RET proto-oncogene. Subsequently, the clinical manifestation of the disease and its time of occurrence was documented. Our analysis showed results in line with existing studies, except for a considerably lower-than-predicted occurrence of PCC in patients with V804M/L mutations. This study supports the current recommendation regarding the pathogenic variant-dependent management of this rare cancer-associated syndrome.

Genetic variants including PNPLA3-rs738409 C>G, TM6SF2-rs58542926 C>T, MBOAT7-rs641738 C>T, and HSD17B13-rs72613567 T>TA have been shown to influence progression to advanced chronic liver disease (ACLD) in patients with chronic hepatitis C (CHC). We aimed to investigate their impact on disease regression (i.e., changes in hepatic venous pressure gradient [HVPG] and non-invasive surrogates [liver stiffness measurement (LSM), von Willebrand factor (VWF), and VWF/platelet count ratio (VITRO)]) and clinical outcomes after CHC cure in 346 patients with pre-treatment ACLD. Patients carrying the PNPLA3 minor allele had more advanced liver disease prior to antiviral therapy, confirming its impact on liver disease progression. In a subgroup of 88 patients who underwent paired HVPG-measurements and were genotyped for all SNP/indels, PNPLA3/TM6SF2/MBOAT7/HSD17B13 genotypes were not associated with changes in HVPG. In line, changes in non-invasive surrogates of portal hypertension (LSM/VWF/VITRO) were comparable between carriers and non-carriers of the PNPLA3 G-allele in the overall cohort. Finally, carriage of PNPLA3 G-allele was not associated with the development of hepatic decompensation, de-novo hepatocellular carcinoma, or transplant-free mortality during a median follow-up of 42 months after the end of antiviral treatment. Therefore, genetic variants in PNPLA3/TM6SF2/MBOAT7/HSD17B13 do not impact the regression of portal hypertension and clinical outcomes in patients with pre-treatment ACLD after CHC cure.

Background: The clinical relevance of clearly defined pretherapeutic basal calcitonin (bCt) cut-offs for predicting lymph node metastases (LNMs) and long-term outcomes (LOs) has so far not been tested in a large cohort of patients with medullary thyroid cancer included in a Ct screening program during the initial diagnostic workup of thyroid nodules. Material and Methods: Female (f) patients with a bCt level of ≤23 pg/mL and male (m) patients with a level of ≤43 pg/mL were assigned to Group 1 (minimal oncologic risk), patients with a bCt between 24 and 84 pg/mL (f) and 44–99 pg/mL (m) to Group 2 (low oncologic risk), and those with a bCt of ≥85 pg/mL (f) and ≥100 pg/mL (m) to Group 3 (high oncologic risk). All patients underwent surgery applying a uniform surgical protocol. The median follow-up was 100 months. Results: The study included 306 patients. In 3/115 (2.6%) patients in Group 1 and in 3/50 (6.0%) in Group 2, LNM in the central but not lateral neck and no distant metastases (DMet) were documented. In both groups, the biochemical long-term cure rate was 95.7% and the disease-specific-survival (DSS) rate was 100% at 10, 15 and 20 years. Lateral LNM and DMet were diagnosed only in Group 3. The bCt levels of N0 and N1 patients showed broadly overlapping ranges, thus impeding the differentiation between those patients through bCt. Both the cure rate and DSS were significantly worse in Group 3. The overall biochemical long-term cure rate was 78.2%. Conclusions: Within a Ct screening program, grouping patients upon pretherapeutic bCt provides a simple risk classification system for indicating surgery, predicting LN involvement, and LOs.

Medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) is a rare neuroendocrine malignancy with limited therapeutic options in advanced disease. While selective RET inhibitors have expanded systemic treatment strategies, disease progression frequently occurs over time. Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) have shown efficacy in the treatment of solid tumors but require suitable cell-surface targets, which have not yet been systemically characterized in MTC. This study aimed to identify therapeutically relevant surface antigens in MTC using immunohistochemical profiling. In this retrospective exploratory study, tumor specimens of 41 patients with histologically confirmed MTC were analyzed. Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues from primary tumors were subjected to immunohistochemical staining for six therapeutically relevant cell-surface antigens. Surface expression was assessed and categorized as strong, weak, or absent. Statistical analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics and Fisher’s exact test. The study included 41 patients with MTC, representing different tumor stages and clinicopathological characteristics with lymph node involvement in 45%. B7-H3 showed membranous expression in 91% of the included cases with strong expression in 82%, which was consistent across tumor stages and clinical subgroups. In contrast, no expression was detected for Nectin-4, Trop-2, c-Met, PD-L2, and Claudin 18.2 in any evaluable samples. B7-H3 was identified as the only consistently and strongly expressed surface antigen in a clinically heterogeneous MTC cohort. These findings identify B7-H3 as a potential therapeutic opportunity for advanced MTC and underscore the limited number of targetable surface antigens in this disease.

Background: Patients with rearranged-during-transfection (RET) mutations may develop aggressive medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), pheochromocytoma (PCC) and primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) within the multiple endocrine neoplasia 2 (MEN2) syndrome, depending on the specific genotype. The Y791F variant has been subject to studies over time but opinions on how to deal with it differ. Pathogenicity could never be proven, nor entirely ruled out. This study aims to contribute to the assessment of its importance and necessity for clinical surveillance. Methods: Thirty-six patients with a pathogenic variant in codon Y791F were analysed in this retrospective clinical and biochemical follow-up study in terms of their clinical manifestation. The patients were diagnosed within a prospective calcitonin screening program of individuals with thyroid nodules, PCC and/or PHPT. Results: MTC was diagnosed in three index cases of patients aged between 56 and 69 years. Beside thyroid nodules, neoplastic C-cell hyperplasia (nCCH) was diagnosed in five index cases, aged between 48 and 69 years. One index patient presented with unilateral PCC at the age of 68 years and another with PHPT at the age of 54 years. The patients were longitudinally monitored for a median [min–max] of 101.5 [0–263] months from the time of mutation diagnosis to the last follow-up, thereby encompassing observation until reaching a median [min–max] age of 56.5 [18–82] years, assuming a lifelong condition. Conclusions: Despite perceptions of clinical insignificance, ongoing uncertainties regarding potential clinical manifestations of MEN2 continue to surround the Y791F variant. There is an ambiguity between sporadic cases and MEN2 associated manifestations leaving the role of regular monitoring open for consideration.