Genetic study reveals new drug target to cure most common type of liver cancer

A new study analyzing the genetics of HCC tumours published in the journal PLOS Genetics by Augusto Villanueva suggests that drugs targeting the gene MAGEA3 may help block the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) which is the most common type of primary liver cancer.

Washington: Drugs targeting the gene MAGEA3 may help block the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of primary liver cancer and one of the leading causes of cancer deaths in the country, new research found. The conclusion of the new study analyzing the genetics of HCC tumours was published in the journal PLOS Genetics by Augusto Villanueva of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and colleagues. Scientists have previously discovered several genes that drive the growth of HCC tumours, yet treatment benefit from approved drugs is still limited. In the new study, Villanueva and colleagues collected 44 tumour biopsies from 12 HCC patients. The researchers used RNA sequencing to study which genes were more highly expressed in high-grade regions of a tumour compared to low-grade regions of the same tumour. One family of genes- cancer-testis antigens (CTAs) -was recurrently over-expressed in the most aggressive regions of tumours.