Emerging trends in hepatology: 30 years of the Journal of Hepatology and 50 years of EASL.

The availability of drugs that can cure hepatitis C virus infection provides a wonderful backdrop for the Journal of Hepatology to start its 31st year. It is clear to us all that the landscape of Hepatology will change within the next 10 years and therefore it is very exciting to introduce this supplement. Despite this progress, deaths from liver disease are occurring at a staggering rate (Table 1) [1] and the benefits of the hepatitis C drugs in reducing death rates will take many years. The main culprits of the increasing burden of disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and alcohol related liver disease, need to be tackled at a societal and political level. The immediate cause of death in these patients, liver failure and liver cancer require better biomarkers and new therapies for earlier diagnosis and treatment. This supplement is a collection of awe-inspiring, inspirational and must-read articles of exceptional quality written by the world leaders in their own fields, often collaborating across continents to bring together this celebratory issue. The articles not only provide the best current evidence and insights into what the future holds for hepatology but also highlight how we have got to this point. Karlsen, Lammert, and Thompson combine their huge knowledge base into focusing on our current understanding of how genetics is helping us better understand the pathogenesis of liver disease. They extend their article to describe how genetics is being used to identify the cause of hereditary liver diseases and allowing predictions about susceptibility to complex diseases and their re-classification. They extend their paper to highlight that genetic studies suggests new modes of treatment of diseases. Finally, they look a little into the future to define how using genomics may help to customize the management of the individual patient. Hepatic fibrosis underlies the occurrence of chronicity of liver disease. Trautwein, Friedman, Schuppan, and Pinzani combine their immense knowledge and huge scientific enterprise to provide an understanding of the current knowledge of the condition and provide insights into how close we may be in finding a ‘true’ anti-fibrotic. Given the relatively long timelines in the evolution of fibrosis, drug development is challenging. They highlight these potential difficulties and describe some of the many efforts that are being put into place to allow an adequate regulatory environment for drug development.