DDW 2024: Cedars-Sinai Experts Share Latest Research, Care Innovations

Cedars-Sinaidigestive and liver diseases physicians and scientists will share their latest research at the annual Digestive Disease Weekmeeting, that takes place May 18-21, in Washington, D.C.

DDW 2024 is the largest international gathering of physicians and researchers in the fields of gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and gastrointestinal surgery.

Cedars-Sinai investigators and clinicians will present more than 45 papers covering a wide variety of disorders and medical specialties, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the gut microbiome and disease, and digestive system cancers.

Specialists are available for media interviews about their newest findings, including these presentations:

Lifestyle and Colorectal Cancer Risk: Ghada Mohamed, MD, on behalf of Simon Lo, MD, director, Pancreatic and Biliary Diseases Program, and Srinivas Gaddam, MD, MPH, associate director of Endoscopic Research, will present findings of a population-based study of the social and health habits of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Investigators identified modifiable lifestyle factors associated with an elevated risk for colorectal cancer, including smoking, physical activity in men, fruit and vegetable consumption, and management of diabetes.

Improving Elemental Meal Taste for Microbial Overgrowth Treatment : Ali Rezaie, MD, medical director of the GI Motility Program, and a leader in the Medically Associated Science and Technology (MAST) Program, will present findings on patient compliance and therapeutic results using a new elemental diet meal replacement, with improved taste. Within two weeks, 73% of patients studied who had methanogen overgrowth or small intestinal bacterial overgrowth had normal breath test results after exclusive use of the more palatable nutrition. Investigators noted that the study's rate of compliance is very high for elemental meal replacement therapy.

Immunotherapy for Advanced Liver Cancer: Yee Hui Yeo, MD, a clinical fellow in the Karsh Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, will present findings of a study comparing survival rates for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma who were treated with immunotherapy versus lenvatinib, a drug that disrupts cancer cell division. The immunotherapy protocol used was associated with better survival outcomes when compared with lenvatinib.

Yeo will also be honored at DDW 2024 as the recipient of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Foundation Fellow Abstract Award. Yeo is being recognized for research that identified the reduced accuracy of noninvasive tests for evaluating significant liver fibrosis in patients who have both chronic hepatitis B and metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease.

Prehabilitation Is Associated With Improved Surgical Outcomes in IBD. Gil Melmed, MD, director of Inflammatory Bowel DiseaseClinical Research, will give a talk on the novel IBD Prehabilitationprogram developed at Cedars-Sinai that provides multifaceted care for inflammatory bowel disease patients before they have surgery, as well as after. The physical, nutritional and mental health support offered before the procedure has been shown to reduce recovery time and the risk of complications after surgery for many patients.

New Breath Test Measures Hydrogen Sulfide Gas in the Small Intestine. Maria Jesus Villanueva-Millan, PhD, a project scientist under the direction of Mark Pimentel, MDin the Medically Associated Science and Technology (MAST) Program, will share findings on the efficacy of a new breath test developed by Cedars-Sinai investigators to measure hydrogen sulfide gas in the gut microbiome, in addition to other gases commonly measured. Investigators note that understanding hydrogen sulfide-producing microbes, and their locations in the gastrointestinal tract, could help develop new microbiome-based treatments for digestive illness.

Gallbladder Disease and Pancreatic Cancer Risk: Ghada Mohamed, MD, a research fellow under the direction of Simon Lo, MD and Srinivas Gaddam, MD, MPH, will present results of a study that found gallbladder disease may be an independent risk factor for the most common form of pancreatic cancer. Investigators found that a statistically significant number of patients were treated for gallbladder disease in the nine months prior to being diagnosed with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. Investigators note the study offers important clinical insight that may lead to earlier detection of pancreatic cancer.

The Gut Microbiome and Mental Illness:Ava Hosseini, MPH, an investigator under the direction of Ruchi Mathur, MDwith the Medically Associated Science and Technology (MAST)Program, will share the results of research examining the impact medication for depression and anxiety may have on the gut microbiome. Investigators found that the duodenal microbial profiles of patients with depression and anxiety, who were taking medication, was similar to that of controls for the study-subjects who did not have depression or anxiety.

Battling the Bloat: Mark Pimentel, MD, executive director of the Medically Associated Science and Technology (MAST) Program, will lead a clinical symposium exploring bloating, a common symptom of many gastrointestinal disorders. Pimentel, an expert in irritable bowel syndrome research and therapeutics, will discuss how gut microbiota-the presence of specific organisms-relates to symptom and disease expression.

Scheduling interviews: To schedule an interview with a Cedars-Sinai expert during the conference, please contact Laura Coverson by email, [email protected], or by phone at 310-562-1112.

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