Basic Science Discoveries Yield Progress in ...(ic pathways -- that result in HCC.This ...),Health

Date:4/25/2008

ic pathways" -- that result in HCC. This discovery corrects a past, widely held but mistaken assumption that all cases of HCC arise from a single type of disease process. On the basis of the new discovery, researchers can now classify and explore differing subtypes of HCC, as well as designing and experimentally testing targeted treatments for patients based on their respective cancer subtype. According to Professor Michael Trauner, Professor of Medicine and Molecular Hepatology at the Medical University, Graz, Austria, "It is extremely interesting to look at different gene expression profiles of patients with the same disease and realize that there are different clusters which may be associated with differentially aggressive disease. For example, in the field of cancer, varying gene expression profiles are linked to better and worse prognoses for hepatocellular carcinoma." In addition to genetic signatures, new protein and metabolic markers are also being developed to detect cancer at an early stage among patients considered at risk. Most importantly, new drugs are now available that are able to target signal transduction cascades which, under pathological conditions, help tumor cells to grow and proliferate. These novel drugs include multikinase inhibitors such as Sorafenib, which has recently been shown to delay progression of HCC. Additional small molecules targeting tumor cell proliferation will be available for clinical trials in the near future.

A third area in which basic science offers the potential for clinical progress in hepatology is in the use of embryonic stem cells for liver repair. One of the major limitations for the development of liver cell therapy programs is the shortage of human hepatocytes. Many laboratories have therefore focussed on stem cells as a renewable source of hepatocytes (although extensive liver tissue formation/replacement has not yet been achieved with either adult or embryonic stem cells). Immortalized hepatocytes could
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SOURCE EASL - European Association for the Study of the Liver Copyright©2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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