Approved Research

Determinants of Disease Progression and Outcome in Patients With Liver Disease

Lay summary

Liver disease is a major preventable cause of death in the United Kingdom, and deaths are rising year on year. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, deaths from liver disease have risen by a further 20% on top of the already high numbers. Most of the deaths, and health care costs, from liver disease occur during the advanced stage called 'cirrhosis'. Once symptoms occur, this is termed 'decompensated' cirrhosis.

The aim of this project is to develop new markers to identify patients who may develop advanced liver disease (cirrhosis), and also those that go on to develop 'decompensated cirrhosis'. This will allow us to target these patients specifically to prevent the serious complications before they occur. Currently there are no licensed drugs to prevent decompensation, even when liver disease is known about. So, a further important aim of this project is to discover new medicines to prevent liver decompensation occurring.