The diagnostic and prognostic criteria of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) were developed in patients with no Hepatitis B virus (HBV) cirrhosis (CANONIC study). The aims of this study were to evaluate whether the diagnostic (CLIF-C organ failure score; CLIF-C OFs) criteria can be used to classify patients; and the prognostic score (CLIF-C ACLF score) could be used to provide prognostic information in HBV cirrhotic patients with ACLF. 890 HBV associated cirrhotic patients with acute decompensation (AD) were enrolled. Using the CLIF-C OFs, 33.7% (300 patients) were diagnosed as ACLF. ACLF was more common in the younger patients and in those with no previous history of decompensation. The most common organ failures were ‘hepatic’ and ‘coagulation’. As in the CANONIC study, 90-day mortality was extremely low in the non-ACLF patients compared with ACLF patients (4.6% vs 50%, p < 0.0001). ACLF grade and white cell count, were independent predictors of mortality. CLIF-C ACLFs accurately predicted short-term mortality, significantly better than the MELDs and a disease specific score generated for the HBV patients. Current study indicates that ACLF is a clinically and pathophysiology distinct even in HBV patients. Consequently, diagnostic criteria, prognostic scores and probably the management of ACLF should base on similar principles.

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Long non‐coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are important regulators of many cellular processes, and their aberrant expression and/or function is associated with many different diseases, including cancer. However, the identification of functional lncRNAs in gastric cancer is still a challenge. In this study, we describe a novel functional lncRNA, linc00483, that is upregulated and associated with tumorigenesis, tumour size, metastasis and poor prognosis in gastric cancer. In our study, linc00483 promoted gastric cancer cell proliferation, invasiveness and metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, upregulated expression of linc00483 in gastric cancer acts as a sponge to absorb endogenous tumour suppressor miR‐30a‐3p. Furthermore, it restores SPAG9 expression, which is negatively regulated by miR‐30a‐3p, and actives MAPK signaling pathway in gastric cancer cells. Thus, linc00483 is an oncogenic lncRNA in gastric cancer and targeting linc00483 or its pathway can potentially be useful in development of targeted therapies for patients with gastric cancer. Our results show that linc00483 is an important regulator in carcinogenesis and may be a useful biomarker to predict prognosis of gastric cancer patients. We believe our findings are novel and will be of interest to scientists working in many areas related to biomarkers in cancer.