£30m study gives 'hope' to liver disease patients

Professor Quentin Anstee is researching liver disease at Newcastle University

A £30m medical study is aiming to provide scientists with new insight into liver disease.

The so-called Advance study is being led by Newcastle University and the University of Edinburgh.

About 444 million people globally are estimated to have the inflammatory liver disease which is caused by the accumulation of fat, Newcastle University said.

Yvonne Gray, 68, from Sunderland, suffers from liver disease and said the study offered "hope of better diagnostic tests so people are identified sooner".

Ms Gray was diagnosed with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASLD) in 2010 and said the condition "sneaks up on patients".

She said: "Apart from fatigue and a constant discomfort in the upper right side of my abdomen, I was only aware of symptoms of my other conditions, not realising that my, so far undiagnosed, liver disease was progressing.

"I am excited and relieved that this research offers hope of better diagnostic tests so people are identified sooner, and at the possible discovery of new treatments that could prevent cirrhosis, or even reverse it."

Yvonne Gray was diagnosed with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis and wants diagnosis of similar conditions to happen earlier

The study will focus on nonalcoholic or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (NASH/MASH), which is caused by a build-up of fat on the liver.

NASH causes the formation of scar tissue which can cause the liver to stop working correctly, a condition known as cirrhosis, a university spokesman said.

There are no approved medicines for cirrhosis and there is an urgent need for earlier diagnosis of the condition, he added.

Professor Quentin Anstee, professor of experimental hepatology at Newcastle University, said: “We aim to work out why, even at the most advanced stages of liver disease, there is substantial variation in how the disease progresses with some people remaining well for many years whilst others rapidly experience liver failure or develop liver cancer."

The study will include 200 patients with cirrhosis, who will be recruited at specialist liver clinics across the UK and Europe.

Patients will undergo a biopsy to collect a small sample of liver tissue and will then have regular blood tests and MRI scans performed over the next two years.

Ms Gray said: "I would encourage all liver patients to discuss getting involved in this innovative research with their own doctors."