Pathological Characterisation of HCC and HB for Development of Immunotherapy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Pathological Characterisation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma for the Development of Immunotherapies
IRAS ID
279480
Contact name
Adel Samson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leeds
Duration of Study in the UK
5 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
The aim of this project is to identify immunological markers in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which may be targeted for the development of safe and effective combination immunotherapies. HCC is a cancer of unmet need, with 12% five-year survival across all stages, due to late diagnosis and inadequate non-personalised therapies. Encouraging results are now being seen in randomised clinical trials using T-cell directed immunotherapies, however efficacy remains limited and autoimmune toxicity in the diseased background liver remains restrictive. Novel immunotherapies must therefore effectively treat the HCC, whilst sparing the background liver.
During this project, up to 120 samples will be analysed from patients with HCC, alongside their corresponding background livers, to quantify the distribution of immune cell infiltration and the expression of immune checkpoint molecules. These data will potentially help to identify the ideal immune checkpoint inhibitors for immunotherapy strategies that target the tumour, whilst sparing the background liver in HCC cancer patients.REC name
North West - Liverpool Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
20/NW/0223
Date of REC Opinion
30 Apr 2020
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion