HUNTER
Research type
Research Study
Full title
HUNTER: Hepatocellular Carcinoma Expediter Network
IRAS ID
256339
Contact name
Helen Reeves
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
C9380/A26813, CRUK HUNTER award; C9380/A28220, CRUK HUNTER clinical studentships sub award; C9380/A28221, CRUK HUNTER non-clinical studensthips
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 globally. Deaths continue to rise, as most HCCs present at advanced stages when surgical cure is not possible and the only available pharmacological treatment extends life by just a few weeks. There is therefore an urgent unmet need to develop new approaches for HCC therapy. CRUK has funded the creation of HUNTER: the Hepatocellular Carcinoma Expediter Network, to support interrogation of the immune components of the tissue microenvironment in which HCC develops. There is excitement around a new class of immuno-oncology therapies that work by stimulating the immune microenvironment of the tumour to promote anti-cancer immune responses. Preliminary clinical studies suggest that 15- 20% of HCC patients benefit by gaining months or even years of life. The HUNTER team has the combined expertise to study how cancer and immune cells talk to each other. The combined aims are to identify novel therapeutic approaches, but also to understand how to predict response, monitor response and switch non-responders into responders – so that we can treat a much greater proportion of our patients. HUNTER has four work packages (WPs). The first centres on the prospective recruitment of patients, their tissues and their data. The second involves integrated bioinformatics analyses of tissues already stored, in order to identify candidate biomarkers for prospective validation in WP1. WP3 combines WP2 knowledge and WP1 tissues for the creation of a suite of preclinical models relevant for the testing of candidate immunotherapies. WP4 centres on understanding the immunosuppressed tumour niche for the identification, testing and translation of novel therapeutic approaches. To address sustainability, WP3 and WP4 support PhD studentships that will deliver the future young scientific and clinical investigators that are urgently required to advance progress for our patients with liver cancer.
REC name
North East - Newcastle & North Tyneside 1 Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NE/0141
Date of REC Opinion
28 May 2019
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion