In an era of hepatitis B immunization and improved health care, an alarming trend is happening — liver cancer is increasing and is now the second-leading cause of cancer deaths around the world.

Rates of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis are rising worldwide. The condition is a complication of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, where - as well as there being fat in the liver - there is also inflammation and damage.

Top-line results from four global Phase 3 clinical studies (POLARIS-1, POLARIS-2, POLARIS-3, and POLARIS-4), led by Gilead Sciences, showed that the combination of sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir (SOF/VEL/VOX) — inhibitors of viral activity — can effectively treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection.

People with hepatitis B core-related antigen (HBcrAg) in their blood are nearly three times more likely to experience hepatitis B virus (HBV) recurrence when undergoing immunosuppressive therapy than those who do not, according to a study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

ContraVir has begun patient enrollment for the next dosing group in its Phase 2a clinical trial comparing the company’s CMX157 with Viread (tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) to treat chronic hepatitis B (HBV).

Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced a new agreement where each company’s independent investigational agents for hepatitis B virus infection — Arrowhead’s ARC-520 and Spring Bank’s SB 9200 — will be used in collaborative studies for finding treatments for the infection.

A patient’s hepatitis B core-related serum status may help clinicians determine if prophylactic HBV antiviral therapy is right for them, according to a published report.

The U.K. National Health Service’s (NHS) National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recently published a new draft guidance recommending Epclusa (sofosbuvir-velpatasvir), an anti-viral drug that offers patients with chronic hepatitis C infection a new therapeutic option.

Researchers in Austria developed a new grass pollen allergy vaccine (BM32) that was found to have a potential hepatitis B infection-neutralizing activity.

If you have been diagnosed with chronic hepatitis B, your doctor has probably run several blood tests that show if the infection is harming your liver and identify what stage of infection you are in. Doctors consider all of these results when deciding if you need treatment and how often you should be monitored.