A. Sidney Barritt, MD: Updating TARGET-NASH

Researchers believe there might soon be a treatment for liver diseases such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH).

While there is currently not an approved treatment for these disorders, the TARGET-NASH study is designed to give researchers a better understanding on the characteristics of the disease, which may payoff in terms of treatments.

TARGET-NASH is an observational study of participants with NAFLD and/or NASH in usual clinical practice and is part of a series of Target studies targeted several diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease and asthma.

All of the patients have been diagnosed with NASH, either by their physician or by a biopsy.

In an interview with HCPLive®, A. Sidney Barritt IV, MD, MSCR, Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Director, UNC Liver Center, explained how the TARGET-NASH trial will provide researchers with significantly more data on effective treatments for the conditions.

Barritt said there are currently more than 5000 patients enrolled from both academic centers and community centers in the trial since enrollment began in 2016.

The goal of the ongoing study is to get an unbiased view of the disease moving forward.