FibroMAX: towards a new universal biomarker of liver disease?

Among the noninvasive alternatives to liver biopsy, several studies have demonstrated the predictive value and a better benefit-to-risk ratio than biopsy of five combinations of simple serum biochemical markers (the super combination being FibroMAX(TM) (BioPredictive, Paris, France) in patients at risk of chronic liver diseases: FibroTest(TM) (BioPredictive) for the quantitative assessment of fibrosis; SteatoTest(TM) (BioPredictive) for the quantitative assessment of steatosis; ActiTest(TM) (BioPredictive) for the quantitative assessment of necroinflammatory activity in chronic viral hepatitis C and B; NashTest(TM) (BioPredictive) for the categorical diagnosis of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis; and AshTes(TM) for the quantitative assessment of alcoholic steatohepatitis (also known in the USA as HCV-FibroSURE(TM), HBV-FibroSURE(TM), ASH-FibroSURE(TM) and NASH-FibroSURE(TM); LabCorp, NC, USA). The possible causes of false-negative and false-positive results are also better identified. These tests, which are now available in 50 countries, can facilitate the screening and management of the most frequent liver diseases.