We also thank Muin J. Khoury for oversight of the project, Chong-Gee Teo and Scott Holmberg for critical review, and the staff at the Research Data Center, National Center for Health Statistics,

for data support and assistance in disclosure review. Additional Supporting Information may be found in the online version of this article. “
“The aim of this study was to clarify the trends of the infectious source of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and the HBV genotype in the Japanese pediatric population over the last three decades. The present study was a retrospective, nationwide, multicenter study. Patients who were under 20 years of age when diagnosed with chronic HBV infection were eligible for enrollment in this study. A total of 430 patients (male/female, 256/174; age at the time of writing, 1–37 years; median age, 14

years; birth year, 1976–2010) from 11 hospitals were evaluated. The incidence of chronic HBV infection from 1976 to 1980, Pembrolizumab order 1981–1985, 1986–1990, 1991–1995, 1996–2000, 2001–2005 and 2006–2010 was 56, 52, 34, 37, 81, 92 and 78, respectively. Of the 430 patients, 304 (71%), 61 (14%), 11 (3%) and 54 (13%) were infected via mother-to-child transmission, close contact, blood transfusion and unknown source, respectively. After the introduction of perinatal immunoprophylaxis, the rate of mother-to-child transmission increased from 62% during the 1991–1995 period to 86% during the 2006–2010 period. The distributions of genotypes A, B, C, D and F were 3%, 9%, 86%, 2% and 1%, respectively. No obvious change was observed in the distribution of genotypes. Genotype LEE011 manufacturer C was significantly

associated with mother-to-child transmission. Mother-to-child transmission remains the primary source of chronic HBV infection after the introduction of immunoprophylaxis. Taking measures to prevent immunoprophylaxis failure is essential to reduce pediatric chronic HBV infection in Japan. “
“The outcomes of sorafenib therapy in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and impaired liver function remain unresolved. Although Child–Pugh (CP) classification is widely used for patient categorization, heterogeneity within a given CP class makes outcomes less pheromone predictable. The aim was to investigate the prognostic significance of CP score elements on the outcome of sorafenib in patients with advanced HCC and impaired liver function. Of 1385 consecutive patients with advanced HCC in our center between January 2007 and December 2010, we reviewed the medical records of 325 patients who received sorafenib monotherapy. Median duration of sorafenib was 2.0 months (range 0.4–24.2) and median follow-up was 4.9 months (range 0.5–43.4). Disease control rates were significantly higher in CP class A (CPA) than in CP class B (CPB) patients. Median overall survival (OS) was 5.8 months. Subgroups with different CP scores showed significantly different OS (months): CPA5, 8.4; CPA6, 5.1; CPB7, 3.