More than 2 million people in Japan have chronic hepatitis C and many of them will lose their lives to liver cirrhosis or complications of hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis C virus-related diseases are a serious concern both in developing countries and in Japan and the United States, where the number of patients is also in the millions. Therapeutic modalities recently developed in Japan, including interferon therapy and nutritional supportive therapy, are gaining worldwide acceptance. At this critical juncture, HCV and Related Liver Diseases presents new information on etiology, pathology, diagnosis, and therapy. Viral hepatitis was the theme of the Yamaguchi Symposium on Liver Disease, meeting in December 1998 and attended by leading hepatologists and virologists. Collected in this volume are the papers from the symposium, providing a valuable resource for hepatologists, gastroenterologists, and others working to understand and treat viral hepatitis.

More than 2 million people in Japan have chronic hepatitis C and many of them will lose their lives to liver cirrhosis or complications of hepatocellular carcinoma. Hepatitis C virus-related diseases are a serious concern both in developing countries and in Japan and the United States, where the number of patients is also in the millions. Therapeutic modalities recently developed in Japan, including interferon therapy and nutritional supportive therapy, are gaining worldwide acceptance. At this critical juncture, HCV and Related Liver Diseases presents new information on etiology, pathology, diagnosis, and therapy. Viral hepatitis was the theme of the Yamaguchi Symposium on Liver Disease, meeting in December 1998 and attended by leading hepatologists and virologists. Collected in this volume are the papers from the symposium, providing a valuable resource for hepatologists, gastroenterologists, and others working to understand and treat viral hepatitis.

To gain a better understanding of the pathology of liver disease, the signaling system controlling hepatocyte differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis was selected as the theme of the 12th Yamaguchi Symposium on Liver Diseases. Ten leading researchers presented their latest experimental results. Focusing on apoptosis, guest speaker Professor D.A. Brenner, USA, spoke on the regulation of tumor necrosis factor alpha and Fas ligand-induced hepatic apoptosis by nerve factor-kappa B. Other researchers covered the molecular basis for clonal deletion therapy in hepatocellular carcinoma, hepatitis C virus induction of proliferation signals, helix-loop-helix protein in liver-specific gene expression, and reconstitution of hepatic tissues using liver stem cells, among other topics of current interest. These proceedings thus serve as a useful resource for all involved in hepatology research.