Precision medicine in Hepatocellular Cancer

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Molecular markers to enable precision medicine in Hepatocellular Cancer

  • IRAS ID

    198951

  • Contact name

    R Sharma

  • Contact email

    r.sharma@imperial.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    Imperial College London

  • Eudract number

    n/a

  • ISRCTN Number

    n/a

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    n/a

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    10 years, 0 months, 1 days

  • Research summary

    Predicting the clinical course of the disease is of paramount importance in the management of hepatocellular (and other) cancers. It is felt that by investigating the molecular signature of cancer clinicians may prescribe treatments which are more likely to show benefit. This concept is particularly important for liver cancer, where Sorafenib, a multikinase inhibitor, is the only drug currently licensed for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Exploring the mechanisms of resistance to this drug is important i) because it provides information on design of agents to over come resistance ii) it may facilitate development of biomarkers which predict whether individual cancers are, or are likely to become, resistant to sorafenib. In the proposed study, we shall investigate genes which may give information on the patient's prognosis and, in a subset of advanced HCC patients, in mediating resistance to sorafenib. These genes will be analysed in the tumor tissue and in peripheral blood both at the DNA level (cancer cell DNA can be detected circulating in the peripheral blood of patients) and as proteins.

  • REC name

    Yorkshire & The Humber - Sheffield Research Ethics Committee

  • REC reference

    17/YH/0015

  • Date of REC Opinion

    25 Jan 2017

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion