| Samuel Waxman, M.D. Distinguished Service Professor Professor of Medicine Mount Sinai School of Medicine |
Josep M. Llovet, M.D Director of Research, Liver Cancer Program Associate Professor of Medicine Mount Sinai School of Medicine |
| Paul B. Fisher, M.Ph., Ph.D. Professor and Chairman, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics Director, VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine Thelma Newmeyer Corman Chair in Cancer Research, Massey Cancer Center Virginia Commonwealth University |
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The way to developing the first effective treatment for advanced liver cancer has been opened through collaboration among researchers funded by the SWCRF and others. They identified a molecule that plays a critical role in many of the cellular processes that lead to liver cancer, which is becoming more common and for which no effective treatment exists. Inhibiting production of this one molecule could lead to disruption of a range of separate cancer-causing processes, making this an attractive target for a new therapy.
Liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma) is among the deadliest cancers – most often diagnosed when it has already spread widely, the 5 year survival rate for advanced disease is less than 5%. This reflects the fact that there is no effective treatment once the cancer has spread beyond a localized tumor that can be surgically removed. It is one of the 5 most common cancers world-wide and has been increasing in frequency in Western countries because of spreading Hepatitis C infection and chronic alcoholism.
A variety of separate intracellular mechanisms contribute to the development of liver cancer, and no single genetic abnormality has been found to cause it. Using different techniques, this research team identified a molecule, called AEG1, that facilitates a number of different cancer causing processes. They also identified many of the specific mechanisms that enable liver cancer:
- to metastasize,
- to resist chemotherapy,
- to grow additional blood supply to support expanding tumors, and
- to evade normal cell death
Very little AEG1 is found in healthy liver tissue. The amounts found correlate closely with the extent of disease in the liver, as its presence facilitates all those cancer-causing mechanisms. Thus, this might provide an additional role for AEG1 in more precise diagnosis of liver cancer.
Because so many different mechanisms contribute to the growth of liver cancer, it has been impossible so far to find an effective treatment. The identification of AEG1’s role opens up a whole new way to understand liver cancer’s causes and to think about how to treat it. "Targeted inhibition of AEG1 might lead to the shutdown of key elemental characteristics of [liver cancer] and could lead to an effective therapeutic strategy."