Liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The most common primary liver cancer in adults is known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and accounts for approximately 780,000 deaths every year.
Liver cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The most common primary liver cancer in adults is known as hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and accounts for approximately 780,000 deaths every year. Even with advanced surgical treatments or transplantation, the 5-year survival rate for HCC patients remains poor due to frequent recurrence.
Now, a new study from NUS researchers has demonstrated a potential method for treating advanced liver cancers like HCC. Led by Associate Professor Edward Chow, who is a Principal Investigator with the Cancer Science Institute of Singapore (CSI) at NUS and Dr Toh Tan Boon, who is Head of the Translational Core Laboratory at NUS N.1 Institute for Health (N.1), a team of NUS scientists showed that a class of small molecule drugs that target the JAK/STAT signalling pathway could be used to fight against the disease.
“Targeting molecular mechanisms that drive chemoresistance has shown success in clinical trials for other diseases. Therefore, such targeted approaches can be potentially useful as adjuvant therapies to improve clinical outcomes of HCC patients,” explained Assoc Prof Chow.
Read more at: National University of Singapore
Liver cancer stem-like cells grown as tumourspheres that are sensitive to JAK/STAT small molecule inhibitors (Photo Credit: Dr Toh Tan Boon, NUS N.1 Institute for Health)
