Biomarkers for disease progression of primary sclerosing cholangitis

Primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC) is a chronic cholestatic liver disease of unknown origin. There is no medical treatment of proven benefit on survival; once patients have progressed to end-stage liver disease, the only treatment option is liver transplantation.

Over the last years, some progress has been made in identifying biomarkers of PSC disease progression. Categories that can be distinguished include clinical and biochemical biomarkers, histology, imaging, prognostic modelling and genetics. With this review, we summarize biomarkers for progression of PSC from these six categories, which have been studied to date.

Biomarkers for the progression of PSC disease course can be used for several purposes. First of all, they can be implemented as surrogate endpoints for clinical trials. Second, biomarkers of disease progression form the basis of prognostic modelling, which is needed for proper patient counselling and management. Lastly, these biomarkers may yield a better understanding of PSC pathogenesis.