Furthermore, increased distance to the closest LT center was associated with decreased odds of waitlisting, as was black race. Conclusions: There are marked geographic and racial differences in access to transplant care in the Medicaid population. These must be addressed to equitably care for the broader population of

patients with ESLD. Multivariable model evaluating waitlisting *Only variables with p<0.05 presented Disclosures: David S. Goldberg - Grant/Research Support: Bayer Healthcare James D. Lewis - Grant/Research Support: Bayer The following people have nothing to disclose: Benjamin French, Scott D. Halpern "
“The hepatitis B virus (HBV) X protein has been implicated as a potential trigger of the epigenetic modifications of some genes during hepatocarcinogenesis, but the underlying mechanisms remain unknown. MicroRNAs (miRNAs), which are noncoding check details RNAs that regulate gene expression, are involved in diverse biological functions and in carcinogenesis. In this

study, we investigated whether some miRNAs are aberrantly expressed and involved in the regulation of the abnormal DNA methylation status in HBV-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our results showed that the expression of microRNA-152 (miR-152) was frequently down-regulated in HBV-related HCC tissues in comparison with adjacent noncancerous hepatic tissues and was inversely correlated to DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) Navitoclax in vivo messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in HBV-related HCCs. The forced expression of miR-152 in liver cell lines resulted in a marked reduction of the expression of DNMT1 at both the mRNA and protein levels by directly targeting

the 3′ untranslated regions of DNMT1. This in turn led to a decrease in global DNA methylation, whereas inhibition of miR-152 caused global DNA hypermethylation and increased the methylation levels of two tumor suppressor genes, glutathione S-transferase pi 1 (GSTP1) and E-cadherin 1 (CDH1). Conclusion: Our findings suggest that miR-152 is frequently down-regulated and regulates DNMT1 in HBV-related HCC. These findings support PAK6 a tumor-suppressive role of miR-152 in the epigenetic aberration of HBV-related HCC and the potential development of miRNA-based targeted approaches for the treatment of HBV-related HCC. HEPATOLOGY 2010 Liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the world and the third most common cause of cancer-related death.1 Overall, 50% to 55% of cases of primary liver cancer are attributable to persistent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections.2 HBV causes chronic infection in approximately 400 million people in the world.3 It is estimated that 50% of male carriers and 14% of female carriers will eventually die of the complications of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).