Key Gene Behind Liver Cancer Identified

A new oncogene called LSF could be the key to development of liver cancer, say US scientists. LSF levels are significantly higher in liver cancer patients compared to healthy individuals.

Hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC, or liver cancer, is the fifth most common cancer and the third leading cause of cancer deaths in the world. Treatment options for HCC include chemotherapy, chemoembolization, ablation and proton-beam therapy. Liver transplantation offers the best chance for a cure in patients with small tumors and significant associated liver disease.

In the study published online the week of April 19 in the Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists with the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Cancer Center and the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine.

"Researchers have been studying the role of LSF for more than 25 years in fields outside of cancer, but our work is the first demonstration that LSF plays an important role in HCC," said principal investigator Devanand Sarkar, Ph.D., MBBS, assistant professor in the Department of Human and Molecular Genetics in the VCU School of Medicine, and Harrison Endowed Scholar in Cancer Research at the VCU Massey Cancer Center and a member of the VCU Institute of Molecular Medicine.

"We show a novel mechanism of HCC development by LSF that provides us with fresh insight into the complex etiology and mechanism of carcinogenesis process. Because LSF is increased in such a high percentage of patients, it could be a potential target for therapeutic intervention," he said.

Liver Cancer
Liver is the largest organ inside the human body. It performs 500 different functions and processes 720 liters of blood per day. The important functions of the liver, the development of liver cancer and it’s symptoms are presented in this interactive.

According to Sarkar, LSF is a transcription factor, which means it can directly regulate the expression of genes. The team has identified specific genes, such as osteopontin, that are directly induced by LSF.

"Osteopontin is a key player in regulating tumor development and progression and the identification of a master regulator of osteopontin, such as LSF, is a very important discovery," said Sarkar.

Early Detection of Liver Cancer Needs Reliable Biomarkers
Neither des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) nor the most widely used biomarker, alpha fetoprotein (AFP) is optimal for detecting liver cancer, according to a new study

The team is currently testing small molecule inhibitors of LSF as a possible therapy for HCC in animal models.

"Analysis of LSF level in biopsy material may one day be used as a prognostic marker for HCC. Clinicians may be able to design treatment strategies based on the LSF level of a patient. For example, a patient with higher LSF level will respond more to LSF inhibitors. Newer combinatorial strategies can be developed incorporating LSF inhibition in one arm," he said.

Source-Medindia
GPL