Funded by GMR and delivered by UQ

About

Liver cancer—including two main types called HCC and ICC—is the fourth highest cause of cancer-related deaths around the world. The usual treatments at the middle stages of these cancers are a type of targeted chemo called TACE and general chemotherapy. But unfortunately, these treatments do not work very well with a five-year survival rate of 19% in Australia.

There are special cells in the liver, called hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), which can actually help liver cancer grow, spread, and fight against treatment. When these cells are activated, they create an environment that supports the cancer. Chemotherapy—while trying to kill the cancer—can accidentally wake up or activate these HSCs, that then helps any leftover cancer cells grow again.

Opportunities and outcomes

This project aims to determine how anti-cancer treatments cause these HSCs to activate. Our researchers want to learn what different types of these activated cells exist, and what roles they play during treatment.

Once the team understands this better, they hope to find specific drugs to block these activated cells and make chemotherapy work more effectively.