Clinical Trials for Cirrhosis

NIDDK conducts and supports clinical trials in many diseases and conditions, including liver diseases. The trials look to find new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease and improve quality of life.

What are clinical trials for cirrhosis?

Clinical trials—and other types of clinical studies—are part of medical research and involve people like you. When you volunteer to take part in a clinical study, you help doctors and researchers learn more about disease and improve health care for people in the future.

Researchers are studying many aspects of cirrhosis, such as

• new treatments to prevent cirrhosis from getting worse
• new ways to prevent liver cancer in people with cirrhosis
• improved treatments for cirrhosis complications, such as hepatic encephalopathy

Find out if clinical studies are right for you.

Watch a video of NIDDK Director Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers explaining the importance of participating in clinical trials.

What clinical studies for cirrhosis are looking for participants?

You can view a filtered list of clinical studies on cirrhosis that are federally funded, open, and recruiting at www.ClinicalTrials.gov. You can expand or narrow the list to include clinical studies from industry, universities, and individuals; however, NIH does not review these studies and cannot ensure they are safe. Always talk with your health care provider before you participate in a clinical study.

What have we learned about cirrhosis from NIDDK-funded research?

NIDDK has supported many research projects to learn more about cirrhosis causes, complications, and treatments. Recent examples of research projects include the Liver Cirrhosis Network (LCN), funded by NIDDK, the National Cancer Institute, and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The network is conducting research to better understand factors that increase the risk of developing cirrhosis complications. LCN will also study treatments that may improve the health of people with cirrhosis. NIDDK also funds the Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Clinical Research Network (NASH CRN) and its research on nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a liver disease that can cause cirrhosis. NASH CRN has conducted studies to learn more about the causes, development, complications, and treatment of NASH in children and adults.