About

Blood test for liver diseases

Up to 29 million people in the EU suffer from chronic liver disease, a range of liver pathologies that includes chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. Liver cirrhosis is responsible for an estimated 170,000 deaths annually in Europe alone. Hepatocellular carcinoma, one of the most serious outcomes of cirrhosis, is the fifth most common cancer in Europe. The disease is responsible for around 47,000 deaths per year.  

In cooperation with VIB, Helena Biosciences, a medical diagnostics firm, is currently right on track to commercialize a novel comprehensive blood test for chronic liver diseases. The technology behind the tool was conceived in 2004 by Nico Callewaert and Roland Contreras (VIB-UGent). They collaborated with Hans Van Vlierberghe and Joris Delanghe at UZ Gent for the clinical translation of the technology. This research was supported by the Fournier-Majoie Foundation.

The new test, called the Glyco Liver Profile, is the first one that is based on direct analysis of the glycome (mix of sugar modifications) of serum proteins, which are mainly produced by the liver. The test enables medical professionals to non-invasively diagnose and monitor chronic liver disease, ranging from liver inflammation to early and late stage fibrosis and early cirrhosis diagnosis.

Over the last 13 years, the Callewaert lab developed and refined the test to offer a diagnostic test that can now easily be adopted into clinical laboratories on a routine clinical platform (Helena’s V8 Nexus Capillary Electrophoresis analyser). Glyco Liver Profile will be an in vitro diagnostic (IVD) with personalized medicine benefits. It offers an accurate alternative to the currently available options, all of which are invasive techniques. Glyco Liver Profile test was launched in 2019.