Celebrating the third year of JHEP Reports in the COVID-19 era

Abstract

When I celebrated the second year of JHEP Reports in the editorial of the first 2020 issue, 1 I could not imagine the year we would go through. But the 14 th issue of the journal is now associated with new hopes arising from vaccines that were developed at an unprecedented speed, thanks to previous solid research on related viruses and technologies, and huge financial investment. During this strange period, JHEP Reports has continued to expand, as illustrated in this issue gathering 11 basic, translational and clinical articles and 4 reviews covering liver cancer, autoimmune liver diseases, liver transplantation, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and viral hepatitis. Amaddeo et al., 2 studied the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Paris, in a multicentric cross-sectional study comparing the COVID-19 period to the same period in 2019. The study showed that COVID-19 clearly impacted the care of patients with liver diseases, especially those with HCC, with less patients being discussed in multidisciplinary tumor boards, especially newly diagnosed patients, and longer treatment delays. These data highlight the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on HCC management. Moreover, although additional data on survival are needed to appreciate the impact of COVID-19 on liver disease progression, maintaining the usual care of patients in a pandemic is a major issue. A study by Azoulay et al. 3 aimed to reevaluate the fate of liver resection for HCC in patients with cirrhosis and significant portal hypertension, performed in highly specialized liver centers. They show that these patients can undergo liver resection with acceptable mortality, morbidity, and liver decompensation rates. The laparoscopic approach was the sole predictor of a textbook outcome. Finally, Gregory et al. 4 assessed the proportion of registered randomized controlled trials (RCTs) among RCTs on transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for the treatment of HCC published between 2007 and 2018, using data from MEDLINE and EMBASE. The analysis shows that registration and outcome reporting in RCTs on TACE for HCC are often inadequate. The study clearly indicates that, although the registration of all RCTs before enrollment of participants is mandatory for publication by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, registration should be reinforced because it is key to transparency in trial reporting. Finally, in a review focusing on rare primary liver cancers (PLCs), Gigante et al. 5 provide an update on the management of hepatocholangiocarcinoma, fibrolamellar carcinoma, hepatic hemangioendothelioma and hepatic sarcoma.