February 04, 2020 WALTHAM, Mass. & PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Echosens, a high-technology company offering the FibroScan family of products, today announces the publication of the “FibroScan-AST (FAST) Score For The Non-Invasive Identification Of Patients With Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis With Significant Activity And Fibrosis: A Prospective Derivation And Global Validation Study,” in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology. FAST is a tool—available on the myFibroScan app—to help clinicians cost-effectively identify individuals at risk for active fibrotic non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), an asymptomatic, progressive and burgeoning liver disease that can lead to increased liver-related mortality and morbidity. The FAST Score is a combination of three components: two physical biomarkers: liver stiffness by VCTE™ and CAP™, estimating fibrosis and steatosis from an examination with FibroScan, plus AST, a readily available blood marker of inflammation. NAFLD affects approximately 25% of the worldwide population and as many as 6% are affected by NASH. NASH prevalence is expected to increase by 63% by 2030.

First author, Dr. Phil Newsome, University of Birmingham Professor of Experimental Hepatology, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust Consultant Hepatologist, Director of the Centre for Liver and Gastrointestinal Research, Director of the Midlands and Wales Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre, and Deputy Director of the NIHR Birmingham Biomedical Research Centre, says, “Based on this prospective study including 1,400 patients undergoing a liver biopsy, this publication demonstrates the value of FAST as a tool to enhance the diagnostic capabilities of healthcare providers to efficiently identify patients with a high probability of active fibrotic NASH. With these study results, FAST emerges as a vital tool for cost effectively and efficiently identifying the 12.2 million people in the United States and European Union who may be living with active, asymptomatic fibrotic-NASH.”

Senior author Dr. Stephen A. Harrison, M.D., FACP, FAASLD, retired COL, USA, MC, visiting professor of Hepatology, Radcliffe Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, and medical director, Pinnacle Clinical Research, points to the study as very timely and significant because the efficient identification of active fibrotic NASH has long been a challenge for drug companies, with many now developing drugs that target this health crisis.

Medical Research Homepage