Stark is the word. Around half of patients with decompensated cirrhosis – where the liver has lost its ability to function properly due to extensive scarring and inflammation – die within 12 months of diagnosis.
Right now, the only approved disease-modifying treatment for advanced decompensated cirrhosis is a liver transplant. But only a small minority of patients receive a donor liver – partly because there simply aren’t enough donor organs available, and partly because many patients aren’t well enough for transplant surgery.
What’s more, unlike most major diseases, deaths from liver disease are actually rising in many Western countries. In the US, annual liver-related deaths nearly doubled between 1999 and 2023, according to a recently published study.
That’s why Resolution Therapeutics has been developing Regenerative Macrophage Therapy as a potential alternative to liver transplantation – one that could improve both quality of life and length of life for these patients.
Dr Nav Palaniyappan is Principal Investigator on the EMERALD trial of RTX001, Resolution Therapeutics’ engineered Regenerative Macrophage Therapy, at Nottingham University Hospitals – one of several sites where the study is taking place.