Liver Cancer News and Research

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Liver cancer is more common in older people. Over half of people newly diagnosed with liver cancer are age 65 and over. Liver cancer is more common in men than in women. Liver cancer rates are highest among Asians and Pacific Islanders, most likely because of higher prevalence of viral Hepatitis infection. Liver cancer rates are lower among whites than Blacks or Asians and Pacific Islanders. At this time, we do not know exactly what causes cancer of the liver. There are several different types of liver cancer. The most common type is associated with long-term excessive alcoholic beverage use, scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), and Hepatitis B virus or Hepatitis C virus infection. Long-term use of anabolic steroids can also increase the risk of getting liver cancer. Smoking is also believed to increase the risk of getting liver cancer.

Alnylam announces results from ALN-VSP Phase I study on liver cancers

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leading RNAi therapeutics company, announced results today from its Phase I extension study with ALN-VSP, a systemically delivered RNAi therapeutic for the treatment of advanced solid tumors with liver involvement.

5 Jun 2012

Final results from ArQule and Daiichi Sankyo’s tivantinib phase 2 trial on HCC

ArQule, Inc. and Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd. today announced final results from a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, phase 2 clinical trial with the selective MET inhibitor tivantinib as a single-agent, investigational, second-line treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

4 Jun 2012

75% increase in cancer incidence predicted by 2030

The global cancer burden is set to surge more than 75% by 2030, according to new research published Online First in the Lancet Oncology. The rise is predicted to be even larger in the developing world, with the poorest countries experiencing a projected increase of more than 90%.

1 Jun 2012

Foreign-born populations in the U.S. are at increased risk for chronic HBV

The prevalence of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection in the U.S. may be as high as 2.2 million cases according to a new study now available in Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

1 Jun 2012

Genetic analysis on Korean mummy reveals unique HBV genotype C2 sequence

The discovery of a mummified Korean child with relatively preserved organs enabled an Israeli-South Korean scientific team to conduct a genetic analysis on a liver biopsy which revealed a unique hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotype C2 sequence common in Southeast Asia.

30 May 2012

Nature Genetics publishes results from whole genome-wide study of recurrent HBV integration in HCC

The Asian Cancer Research Group (ACRG)—an independent, not-for-profit company established by Eli Lilly and Company, Merck (known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) and Pfizer Inc.—in collaboration with BGI—the world's largest genomics organization—today announced the publication of results from a whole genome-wide study of recurrent hepatitis B virus (HBV) integration in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Nature Genetics.

30 May 2012

NIEHS renews funding for SRP at UCSD

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health, has renewed funding for the Superfund Research Program (SRP) at the University of California, San Diego. Over the next five years, the $15 million grant will fund continued research on the molecular and genetic consequences of exposure to uncontrolled toxicants from Superfund and other hazardous waste sites.

23 May 2012

Bayer’s Nexavar Phase 3 trial on NSCLC does not meet primary endpoint

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that a Phase 3 trial evaluating Nexavar (sorafenib) tablets in patients with advanced relapsed or refractory non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) whose disease progressed after two or three previous treatments, did not meet its primary endpoint of improving overall survival.

22 May 2012

Data from Jennerex JX-594 clinical trials on cancer to be presented at ASCO annual meeting

Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic virus products for cancer, today announced that data relating to the company's oncolytic virus therapy for cancer will be covered in three separate abstracts released today by the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

17 May 2012

Significant breakthrough in understanding the cause of bile duct cancer

A team of international scientists has made a significant breakthrough in understanding the cause of bile duct cancer, a deadly type of liver cancer. By identifying several new genes frequently mutated in bile duct cancers, researchers are paving the way for better understanding of how bile duct cancers develop. Their discovery is published online in Nature Genetics.

15 May 2012

BioAlliance Pharma commences Livatag phase III trial in hepatocellular carcinoma

BioAlliance Pharma SA, a Company dedicated to orphan oncology products and specialty products, today announces the initiation of ReLive, its phase III clinical trial with Livatag(doxorubicin Transdrug), as scheduled in the advancement calendar of the project.

15 May 2012

New Jefferson Hepatitis C Center

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital recently opened its new Jefferson Hepatitis C Center, one of only a few comprehensive, multidisciplinary centers dedicated to the study of hepatitis C virus and hepatic disease in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware tri-state area.

14 May 2012

One in six cancer cases worldwide related to preventable or curable infections

New research shows that one in six cancers - amounting to two million a year globally - are caused by largely treatable or preventable infections.

9 May 2012

IBN develops biochip for investigating the effect of drugs on cancer stem cells

Researchers at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN), the world's first bioengineering and nanotechnology research institute, have developed a miniaturized biochip for investigating the effect of drugs on cancer stem cells (CSCs). Published recently in Nano Today, this new technology could boost the development of more effective cancer drugs.

9 May 2012

Research reveals possible strategy to reverse fibrosis in liver and other organs

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, report that significant numbers of myofibroblasts - cells that produce the fibrous scarring in chronic liver injury - revert to an inactive phenotype as the liver heals. The discovery in mouse models could ultimately help lead to new human therapies for reversing fibrosis in the liver, and in other organs like the lungs and kidneys.

8 May 2012

Combination of two mTOR inhibitors stops growth of hepatocellular carcinoma

The combination of two inhibitors of protein mTOR stops the growth of primary liver cancer and destroys tumour cells, according to a study by researchers of the Group of Metabolism and Cancer at Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute.

3 May 2012

Individuals with positive family history of liver cancer more likely to develop HCC

A family history of liver cancer is reported to increase risk of developing hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), independent of hepatitis according to findings published in the May issue of Hepatology, a journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. The study also shows 70-fold elevated risk of HCC in those with liver cancer in the family and markers for hepatitis B (HBV) or hepatitis C.

25 Apr 2012

Severe fibrosis increases early atherosclerosis risk in patients with chronic HCV-1 infection

Italian researchers report that severe fibrosis increases the early atherosclerosis risk in patients with genotype 1 chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. A second study found that fatty liver disease also increases risk of developing atherosclerosis at an earlier period. Both studies appear in the May issue of Hepatology, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.

25 Apr 2012

Nordion announces additional TheraSphere Phase III trial for HCC

Nordion Inc., a leading provider of products and services for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, today announced an additional randomized, multi-centre Phase III clinical trial for TheraSphere, Nordion's yttrium-90 (Y-90) glass microsphere treatment for liver cancer.

24 Apr 2012

Cancer therapy with common cold virus

Common viruses have become the latest weapon against cancer. There is the case of the eight-year-old African boy diagnosed with Burkitt's lymphoma at a Ugandan health clinic. He was exposed to the measles virus and in the next few weeks his tumour regressed completely and he entered remission. But only relatively recently have scientists clinically examined the interaction between viruses and cancers in the growing area of oncolytic virotherapy.

24 Apr 2012