Calvaruso (Aisf), ‘options for primary biliary cholangitis are increasing’

2023-09-19 13:53:11

“For years we have treated primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) only with ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) which continues to be the first-line drug. However, for over two years we have had a second-line drug available, obeticholic acid, which has allowed us to obtain a response in that percentage of patients that we were unable to treat with just the first drug. Furthermore, several promising studies are also underway on the use of the ‘fibrate’ class of drugs, so we will soon have the possibility of better managing even those patients who do not respond to first-line drugs”. Thus at time.news Salute Vincenza Calvaruso, national secretary of the Italian Association for the study of the liver (Aisf), today on the sidelines of the press conference in the Nassirya room of the Senate to raise awareness of a rare, autoimmune and chronic liver disease which has a strong negative impact on the quality of life of approximately 20 thousand Italians, in particular women between 40 and 60 years old.

During the press conference, promoted on the initiative of Senator Ignazio Zullo of the X Commission (Social Affairs), ‘Primary biliary cholangitis (Pbc)’ was presented. Italian best practices: the story of the protagonists’, a volume that recounts the individual territorial experiences carried out, the methods of creating the individual models and the impact on the lives of the people who have benefited from them, to guarantee equality of access to early and adequate care and management and improve the quality of services offered to people with the disease. The volume was created in collaboration with FB&Associati and with the non-conditioning contribution of Advanz Pharma.

For better care of patients with liver disease, the model to be enhanced is that of pathological networks, “in particular for patients with primary biliary cholangitis. They are fundamental tools that we have learned to implement in recent years – underlines Calvaruso – In fact, they allow all centers that deal with liver diseases, from the largest to the smallest, distributed throughout the territory, to obtain the same standard system of diagnosis and care of their patients who can thus be followed and treated in the place closest to their home”. Not only. “Pathological networks – he concludes – allow us to carry out tests which, for example, are not carried out in smaller centres, so patients can be sent to larger centres. From this point of view, the pathology networks have really changed the approach to caring for these patients.”