The LIVER rangers

He’s a LIVER ranger, his name is Jørgen, and he’s on a mission. The mission: To avoid the dangerous (and very unpleasant) liver biopsies.

Liver biopsies are often still the only reliable technique to diagnose patients with liver disease. This is also the case for the liver diseases NAFLD and NASH, which are specifically on the Jørgen’s radar.

Blood sample or liver biopsy?

If you don’t like the risk of bleeding, a (very) big needle, and the thought of this long needle poking in through your abdomen, liver biopsy is probably not your thing.

Luckily, Jørgen and his ranger team is currently working hard in the lab to make sure that no NAFLD and NASH patients have to go through a liver biopsy. Instead, the LIVER rangers will replace the biopsies with blood samples (much smaller needles and less painful procedure!).

Currently the LIVER rangers are comparing blood samples from healthy persons with NAFLD/NASH patients to find out what sets them apart. To do this, they are using a new method.

The 3D strategy

Jørgen expects that the blood samples will differ between healthy and sick persons but also among the sick persons. Using the new method, the LIVER rangers hope to be able to effectuate their 3D strategy in the future. It’s a 3-step strategy: 

1. DIAGNOSIS:

Based on a simple blood sample, the patient can be easily and correctly diagnosed.

2. DEVELOPMENT:

During the course of the disease, the severity and progression can be followed closely by monitoring the changes in the patient’s blood samples.

3. DISEASE TREATMENT:

When the patient receives treatment for the disease, the doctors can evaluate the body’s response via blood samples.