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Diagnostics
Special Issues
Diagnostic and Prognostic Markers in Liver Diseases
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Diagnostic and Prognostic Markers in Liver Diseases

A special issue of Diagnostics (ISSN 2075-4418). This special issue belongs to the section "Pathology and Molecular Diagnostics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 5185

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Dávid Tornai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Debrecen, 4032 Debrecen, Hungary
Interests: hepatology; prognosis; biomarkers

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue aims to delve into the rapidly evolving field of biomarkers, with a focus on liver diseases of various etiologies including metabolic, alcoholic, and autoimmune pathologies. It seeks to highlight advancements in molecular, genetic, biochemical, and imaging markers that enhance diagnosis, and/or accurately predict disease progression, treatment response, and patient outcomes. Therefore, we  cordially invite you to submit comprehensive reviews and original research articles covering the discovery, validation, and clinical translation of these markers. We are particularly interested in contributions exploring innovative non-invasive markers, novel imaging techniques, and emerging laboratory methods. Emphasis will also be placed on the integration of these markers in clinical practice, their potential role in personalized medicine. Our goal is to provide a multidisciplinary platform for scientists and clinicians to share and discuss novel discoveries that will shape future diagnostic and therapeutic strategies in hepatology.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Dávid Tornai
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Diagnostics is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • diagnostic and prognostic markers
  • non-invasive biomarkers
  • hepatology
  • liver disease
  • therapeutic response
  • disease progression
  • fibrosis
  • mortality
  • decompensation
  • infection

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Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 1367 KB  
Article
Longitudinal Comparison of Currently Used Risk Scores for Prognostication of Primary Sclerosing Cholangitis (PSC) in a Hungarian Bicenter PSC Cohort
by Peter Laszlo Ven, David Tornai, Bence Toth, Zsuzsanna Vitalis, Istvan Tornai, Tamas Tornai, Gabriella Par and Maria Papp
Diagnostics 2025, 15(17), 2166; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15172166 - 26 Aug 2025
Viewed by 1131
Abstract
Background/Objectives: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease with limited epidemiological data from Central–Eastern Europe. This study characterized a Hungarian PSC cohort, comparing patients with and without inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and longitudinally evaluated the predictive efficacy of established prognostic [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease with limited epidemiological data from Central–Eastern Europe. This study characterized a Hungarian PSC cohort, comparing patients with and without inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and longitudinally evaluated the predictive efficacy of established prognostic scores (Mayo Risk Score, Amsterdam-Oxford Model [AOM], UK-PSC short/long). Methods: Data from 135 PSC patients (median diagnosis age 31 years, 57.7% male) were collected yearly at two Hungarian centers, with a median follow-up of 8.8 years. Outcomes included liver transplantation (LT) and liver-related death. Prognostic value of baseline clinical scores was assessed for 2-, 5-, 8-, and 10-year composite outcome. Results: PSC-IBD patients (54.1%) were younger with higher baseline Mayo and AOM scores, and had increased rates of colorectal carcinoma (8.22% vs. 0.00%) and liver transplantation (26.03% vs. 9.68%) within 10 years than PSC-only patients. There were no differences in liver-related mortality or composite outcomes between the groups. All prognostic scores showed good short-term predictive ability for poor outcomes (AUROC at 2 years: 0.858–0.958), which diminished over time (AUROC at 10 years: 0.708–0.756). The AOM demonstrated the most consistent performance. Persistent alkaline phosphatase (ALP) elevation (≥2.2×ULN) 2 years post-diagnosis, despite ursodeoxycholic acid therapy, strongly predicted 10-year adverse outcomes (HR: 3.927, p < 0.001), outperforming formal scoring systems (HR: 2.688–1.522). Conclusions: While PSC-IBD patients had more CRC and liver transplantation, overall transplantation-free survival was similar to PSC-only patients. Prognostic utility of current scores declines with longer follow-up; AOM was most stable. Sustained ALP elevation is a robust long-term prognostic indicator. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnostic and Prognostic Markers in Liver Diseases)
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12 pages, 1304 KB  
Article
Association of Serum Levels and Immunohistochemical Labelling of Des-Gamma-Carboxy-Prothrombin in Patients Undergoing Liver Transplantation for Hepatocellular Carcinoma
by Suzanne Chabert, Samuele Iesari, Geraldine Dahlqvist, Mina Komuta, Pamela Baldin, Evaldo Favi and Laurent Coubeau
Diagnostics 2024, 14(9), 894; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics14090894 - 25 Apr 2024
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1579
Abstract
Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is one of the main reasons for liver transplantation (LT). Biomarkers, such as alpha-foetoprotein (AFP) and Des-gamma-carboxy-prothrombin (DCP), can be helpful in defining the recurrence risk post LT. This study aims to evaluate the association between the intensity of DCP [...] Read more.
Hepatocellular cancer (HCC) is one of the main reasons for liver transplantation (LT). Biomarkers, such as alpha-foetoprotein (AFP) and Des-gamma-carboxy-prothrombin (DCP), can be helpful in defining the recurrence risk post LT. This study aims to evaluate the association between the intensity of DCP immunohistochemical labelling and serum DCP levels in patients undergoing LT for HCC. We carried out a prospective monocentric study including patients who all underwent LT for cirrhosis between 2016 and 2018 and all fell under the Milan criteria. The accepted diagnostic criteria for HCC were contrast-enhanced imaging and histology. Thirty-nine patients were followed for a median of 21 months, with HCC lesions categorized into negative, focally positive, and diffusely positive groups based on DCP immunohistochemistry. The serum DCP levels were significantly higher in the positive groups (258 mAU/mL for the focally and 257 mAU/mL for the diffusely positive) than in the negative group (48 mAU/mL) (p = 0.005) at diagnosis and at the time of liver transplantation (220 mAU/mL for the diffuse positive group). Microvascular invasion (58.8% vs. 19.0% for the diffusely positive and negative groups, respectively, p < 0.001) and lesion size (20 mm in the diffusely labelled group versus 12 mm in the other groups, p = 0.002) were significantly correlated with DCP labelling. Late recurrence occurred only in the positive groups; in the negative group, it occurred within the first 3 months after transplantation. DCP labelling in liver lesions correlates with serum levels and a more aggressive tumour profile. Further investigation is needed to determine if highly DCP-labelled tumours allow for the better selection of high-risk patients before LT. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnostic and Prognostic Markers in Liver Diseases)
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Review

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31 pages, 1493 KB  
Review
An Update of Immunohistochemistry in Hepatocellular Carcinoma
by Bingyu Li, Larry Huang, Jialing Huang and Jianhong Li
Diagnostics 2025, 15(17), 2144; https://doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics15172144 - 25 Aug 2025
Viewed by 936
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a global health challenge due to molecular heterogeneity and frequent delayed diagnosis. This comprehensive review synthesizes recent immunohistochemistry (IHC) advancements for HCC diagnosis, prognostication, and therapeutic prediction. We systematically evaluate conventional markers, such as hepatocyte paraffin 1 (HepPar1), arginase-1 [...] Read more.
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains a global health challenge due to molecular heterogeneity and frequent delayed diagnosis. This comprehensive review synthesizes recent immunohistochemistry (IHC) advancements for HCC diagnosis, prognostication, and therapeutic prediction. We systematically evaluate conventional markers, such as hepatocyte paraffin 1 (HepPar1), arginase-1 (Arg-1), and glypican-3 (GPC3), as well as emerging biomarkers, detailing their diagnostic sensitivities and specificities in HCC with varied tumor differentiation. Prognostic immunostaining markers, such as Ki-67 proliferation index and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) overexpression, correlate with reduced 5-year survival, while novel immune checkpoint IHC markers (PD-L1 and CTLA-4) predict response to immunotherapy, particularly in advanced HCC. This work provides evidence-based recommendations for optimizing IHC utilization in clinical practice while identifying knowledge gaps in biomarker validation and standardization. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diagnostic and Prognostic Markers in Liver Diseases)
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