CRUK HUNTER Accelerator – delivering immunotherapy for liver cancer
Research type
Research Study
Full title
HUNTER: Hepatocellular Carcinoma Expediter Network - created to define the hepatocellular carcinoma immune environment, the key mechanisms and biomarkers, and to develop the pre-clinical models needed, to deliver immunotherapy to patients with liver cancer
IRAS ID
266624
Contact name
Helen Reeves
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
C9380/A26813, CRUK HUNTER award
Duration of Study in the UK
4 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Primary liver cancer, predominantly hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), is the second commonest cause of cancer death in the world. Deaths continue to rise, as most HCCs present at advanced stages when surgical cure is not possible and the only available medical treatment extends life by just a few weeks. There is therefore an urgent need to develop new treatments for HCC. There is excitement around a new class of immune system-based therapies that work by stimulating aspects of the immune system surrounding the tumour to promote anti-cancer immune responses. Preliminary clinical studies with one type of immune therapy suggest that 15- 20% of HCC patients benefit by gaining months or even years of life. CRUK has funded the creation of HUNTER: the Hepatocellular Carcinoma Expediter Network, to support an in depth study of the immune components of the tissue microenvironment in which HCC develops, so that novel immune approaches for HCC can be developed. The HUNTER team has the combined expertise to recruit the patients, collect their tissues and data, study the immune cells around the cancers and how they talk to each other, while identifying the blood based biomarkers that reflect what is happening in the tumour – so that we will know which new treatment to use for individual patients and how to monitor them. The team will also use the same tissues to create models that enable the development and testing of new biomarker guided treatment approaches.
The goal is to study the cancers and their immune surroundings, so that we can:
(1) Identify biomarkers that predict patient survival and outcome with current therapies
(2) Develop novel immune-based treatment approaches, possibly in combination with current therapies
(3) Identify biomarkers to guide immune-based treatments or combination treatments(4) Develop models to test immune-based therapies or combinations
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 2 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NE/0251
Date of REC Opinion
13 Sep 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion