Liver cancer is one of the deadliest cancers with most patients dying within six months of diagnosis. Liver cancer is most common in men with and is the fourth most common cancer in men. The liver itself is one of the most complex organs in the body and treating liver cancer is also complex because chemotherapy alone is rarely successful.
A Singapore-led clinical trial now aims to find better ways to treat the disease, which is common in the Far East – in fact, 80% of the 1million worldwide deaths every year are in Asia.
The study has already been running for two years with $10.2million in funding from the Singapore government and an Australian medical company to test which of two drugs for the disease should be first choice in treating advanced liver cancer.
The work has been expanded and now includes a study into the biomarkers, or proteins, which might reveal which particular drug would suit an individual patient. This part of the study will be a clinical trial with 360 patients in 13 countries and could change the way the cancer is treated by putting decisions about which drugs to use in the hands of patients.
Patients’ blood will be tested for the biomarkers that might reveal if they are sensitive to one of the two drugs currently used, sorafenib or SIR-Spheres. The next stage is a scan that identifies where the cancer cells are, using a substance called choline. And the final part of the clinical trial looks at the recovery of the liver after treatment such as chemotherapy to identify the best time for a patient to undergo surgery to remove the diseased parts of the organ.
The research team believes the long-term outcome of their study will be to introduce quicker and more accurate treatment for the disease.
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