Study identifies therapeutic target for liver cancer and predictive biomarker of response
Monday, March 14, 2011 - 11:31
in Health & Medicine
In a research study appearing in the journal Cancer Cell on March 14, scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and four other institutions have identified a strategy for targeted molecular therapy in liver cancer, which currently has limited treatment options and one of the worst one-year survival rates of any cancer type. The researchers' experiments reveal that up to 15% of liver tumors are "driven" by the hyperactivity of a gene called FGF19, which is well known for its role in various normal biological processes such as cell growth and tissue repair. Shutting down the activity of this gene with an antibody inhibited tumor growth.