CINCINNATI, Ohio (Ivanhoe Newswire) – More than a hundred million people in the U.S. are living with some form of liver disease, and some stats say that almost 80 million of them don’t even know they have it. If left untreated, liver disease can lead to liver failure or liver cancer. There are many causes – genetics, diet, alcohol – and even people who have never drunk can get liver disease. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease happens when you have too many fat deposits in your liver. For one man, finding out he had it started a journey that ended up saving his life.
Brad Myers’ passion is taking a piece of wood and creating art. But Brad’s post-retirement plan to turn his hobby into a business got cut short when doctors told him he had end stage liver disease.
“… And I said, ‘I have what?!’,” Brad recalls.
There are two types of fatty liver disease – NAFLD, now called SLD, shows signs of fat in the liver, but if you also have inflammation and liver cell damage, that was called NASH and is now referred to as MASLD. Brad was enrolled in a clinical trial at the University of Cincinnati for a new drug to treat NASH.
Brad explains, “While I was finished with the trial, I had my last liver biopsy.“
That’s when doctors discovered a malignant tumor, which was treated by proton radiation therapy. But then, another tumor popped up.
Hematologist Oncologist at University of Cincinnati Cancer Center, Adam Rojan, MD explains, “We gave him two intravenous medications. One is a targeted drug that, it works is by disrupting the blood supply to the cancer. The other is a form of immunotherapy where we try to stimulate his immune system to fight his cancer.”
Neither worked. A transplant was his last resort. With just weeks to live, a deceased donor liver was found. Now, two years and three clinical trials later, Brad has a new liver, is completely cancer-free, and is back in business.
“I love it. Yeah. It’s total peace for me,” Brad says with relief.
Liver disease is often called the silent disease – people can live for years without symptoms. By the time they do start to feel signs such as fatigue, weight loss, jaundice, itching, and pain in the upper belly, the liver disease can be quite progressed.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Matt Goldschmidt, Videographer; Roque Correa, Editor.
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Source:
MEDICAL BREAKTHROUGHS
RESEARCH SUMMARY
TITLE: SAVING BRAD: ONE MAN’S TRIUMPH OVER LIVER DISEASE
REPORT: MB #5384
BACKGROUND: Liver disease encompasses a wide range of conditions that affect the liver, an essential organ responsible for numerous functions including detoxification, protein synthesis, and digestion. Liver diseases can range from mild conditions with no symptoms to severe conditions that can lead to liver failure. About 4.5 million Americans are diagnosed with liver disease, and about 57,000 die from it each year. There are several types of liver diseases: hepatitis A, B and C, fatty liver disease, liver cancer, alcohol-associated, nonalcoholic, primary biliary cholangitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, Bile duct cancer and liver cell adenoma.
(Sources: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17179-liver-disease
https://www.webmd.com/hepatitis/liver-and-hepatic-diseases)
DIAGNOSING: Symptoms of liver disease include, but are not limited to: jaundice, fatigue and weakness, abdominal pain and swelling, swelling in legs and ankles, dark-colored urine, light-colored stool, digestive difficulties, weight and muscle loss, musty-smelling breath, mild brain impairment, and/or itchy skin. Doctors can diagnose liver disease by taking a look at your medical history, performing a physical exam, blood tests like liver function tests, viral hepatitis panel, or complete blood count, imaging tests like ultrasounds, CT scans or MRIs, liver biopsies and/or elastographies.
(Source: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/17179-liver-disease)
NEW TECHNOLOGY: The University of Cincinnati started a clinical trial with a new drug to treat NASH (now called MASLD), which is a type of liver disease. Hematologist Oncologist, Adam Rojan, MD, was involved in the clinical trial and treated patient Brad Myers. “We gave him two intravenous medications. One is a targeted drug that, it works is by disrupting the blood supply to the cancer. The other is a form of immunotherapy where we try to stimulate his immune system to fight his cancer.”
(Source: Adam Rojan, MD, Hematologist Oncologist, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center)
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Tim Tedeschi
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