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Background: To correlate imaging features of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) with the antibodies to recombinant Em18 (rEm18AB) at diagnosis and evaluate initial imaging features associated with serologic response, this retrospective study used data from the prospective multicenter EchinoVISTA study (NCT02876146). Imaging and serology were performed at diagnosis and during follow-up. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate imaging features associated with the rEm18AB index. Follow-up analyses evaluated the imaging features associated with serologic response (defined as a 50% reduction in the baseline value within 2 years) in non-operated patients treated with albendazole alone. Results: From June 2012 to July 2016, 45 patients were included, with 8/45 (18%) having an rEm18AB index 1. In patients treated with albendazole, serologic responders at 2 years had smaller lesions (5.3 [IQR = 3.8–72] vs. 3.5 [IQR = 2.7–3.7], p = 0.010) with less pedicle involvement, and lower initial rEm18AB index (2.98 ± 1.63 vs. 7.81 ± 3.95, p = 0.011). Conclusion: Maximum lesion size, percentage of microcysts within the lesion, and maximum lesion SUV are significant imaging features of AE correlated with the rEm18AB index. Serologic response at 2 years occurs primarily in patients with small lesions and a low rEm18AB index.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is recognized as an inflammation-related cancer. However, the relation between inflammation deriving from the diet and HCC risk among cirrhotic patients has not yet been investigated. This study aimed to examine the association between the dietary inflammatory index (DII®) and HCC risk among cirrhotic patients. Clinical and dietary data were collected from the French case–control study CiRCE (Cirrhosis and Risk of hepatocellular Carcinoma in the East), which included 401 cirrhotic patients without HCC (controls) and 181 cirrhotic patients with HCC (cases) recruited between 2008 and 2012 in six French university hospitals. DII scores (36 food items and nutrients) were assessed using a validated self-administered diet history questionnaire. Odds ratios (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) were estimated with logistic regression models (adjusted for age, gender, time from cirrhosis diagnosis, etiology of cirrhosis, Child-Pugh score, and diabetes). The DII scores ranged between −4.77 and +7.59 with a mean value of 1.03 ± 2.87 among cases and 0.83 ± 2.87 among controls, indicating that both groups were following a pro-inflammatory diet. After multi-variable adjustment, there was a positive association between HCC risk and the DII score when considered as a continuous variable (OR continuous = 1.14 [1.02–1.27], p-value = 0.021) or categorized in tertiles (OR T3vsT1 = 2.33 [1.16–4.67], p-trend = 0.021). Similar results were found when alcohol was omitted from the DII calculation but considered as a co-variate: OR continuous = 1.15 [1.03–1.28], p-value = 0.013, and OR T3vsT1 = 2.35 [1.18–4.68], p-trend = 0.015. A positive correlation was observed between the DII scores and two inflammatory biomarkers (CRP, IL-6) among controls. The present study reported an association between a pro-inflammatory DII score and the risk of HCC in cirrhotic patients. Correlations between the scores and biological parameters support a potential role for inflammation in HCC among cirrhotic. Result should be confirmed in larger prospective studies, and could lead to nutritional prevention in cirrhotic patients. This study was registered in www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01798173. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]