PhD defence J. (Jiaye) Liu

In this thesis I have focussed on diverse but to certain extents related liver diseases. A common denominator might be that they either predispose or constitute cancer of the liver. Liver cancer, which mainly includes the disease entities cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) display a rapid increase on an already high incidence and hence liver cancer has become a member of the group of most prevalent types of cancers globally. In view of the inadequacy of current options with respect to clinical management, it is not surprising to note that liver cancer constitutes one of the most common causes of oncological death and as a consequence this group of diseases is considered to be a major global public health challenge. Progress with respect to better therapeutic options is frustratingly inadequate and slow. The body of work in this dissertation was started from the idea that improved prevention and treatment of liver cancer needs improved understanding of not only the molecular and cellular factors governing its initiation and that determine treatment success, including side effects, but also the epidemiological factors driving nosidynamics (temporal changes in disease incidence). In this respect one should take into account that some inflammatory conditions like hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, hepatitis E virus (HEV) or fatty liver disease predispose to cancer development. Thus I also undertook to start a quest for obtaining a better understanding of inflammatory disease in the liver. The preceding chapters have described the fruits resulting from all these endeavors, while in the present discussion, I strive to summarize these results and to discuss the main discoveries made in the light of the body of contemporary biomedical literature.

Due to corona, the PhD defences do not take place publicly in the usual way in the Senate Hall of the Professor Andries Querido Room. The candidates will defend their dissertation either in a small group or online.