Review Articles, News & Views, Perspectives, Hypotheses, Analyses and Review in 2013

In this Review, Van Oudenhove and Aziz provide an overview of epidemiological studies that demonstrate an association between functional dyspepsia and psychological traits, states or psychiatric disorders. They also describe pathophysiological evidence on how psychosocial factors and psychiatric disorders might exert their role in functional dyspepsia.

The phenotype and behaviour of primary tumours in the liver is widely believed to reflect their cell of origin. A new study in mice shows that this relationship is not always the case—the cells of origin of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas might be hepatocytes rather than the expected cholangiocytes or bipotential hepatic progenitor cells.

Functional dyspepsia is thought to be a heterogeneous disorder, with a wide variety of pathophysiological mechanisms underlying the varied symptoms observed in patients. Here, Vanheel and Farré provide an overview of the pathogenesis of functional dyspepsia, adding insight on the diverse functional and structural changes in the gastrointestinal tract in this condition.

Although GERD and functional dyspepsia are generally thought of as completely distinct disorders with unique symptoms and treatments, they are, in many ways, more similar than different and can overlap in the same individual. This Review, which focuses on the overlap of GERD with functional dyspepsia, describes similarities and differences with regards to the epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis and treatment of these two disorders.

This Review summarizes present knowledge regarding the epidemiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of oesophageal cancer. Important achievements are outlined and current controversies about the status of multimodal concepts and adequate therapy are discussed. Furthermore, the role of palliative care in patients with advanced, incurable tumours is highlighted.

Dietary factors are increasingly recognized to have an important role in triggering symptoms in a large proportion of patients with functional dyspepsia. This Review outlines the role of diet and specific foods and/or food components in symptom induction, summarizes potential mechanisms, and highlights the role that dietary interventions might have in treating functional dyspepsia.

Although polycystic liver disease is usually a benign disease, the symptoms can be debilitating in some patients, for whom surgery is an option. This Review discusses the latest advances in the diagnosis and management of polycystic liver disease.