Comprehensive characterization of cellular and molecular alterations and pathobiology of hepatocellular and cholangiocarcinoma in Thai population
The main focus of the research is to understand the relationship among genetics, environmental exposures, and the etiology of primary liver cancer through the establishment of a large clinical cohort consisting of well-defined case-control and case-case individuals. Recognizing the molecular features and genetic mutations of liver cancer from Thai patients could lead to more effective treatment options for this population. These findings may point researchers toward new strategies for drug development. Through integrative analysis approaches, the research also aims to identify clinically-relevant biomarkers that may be useful for risk assessment, cancer early detection, tumor subtype classification, prediction of tumor relapses and responses to therapy which could potentially lead to more effective treatment of liver cancers.
Using biospecimens collected in the biorepository, the researchers studied multi-omics data arising from tissue of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) patients from Thailand. Genome sequences, gene activity and metabolic profiles data of 398 tissue samples were analyzed and the researchers were able to identify molecular subtypes of either type of liver cancer which are closely resembles each other’s. These common subtypes of HCC and CCA showed similar gene expression pattern, tumor biology and clinical outcome. The follow up study focused on metabolic profile of Thai HCC patients, the researchers discovered that certain metabolic genes, tissue metabolites and serum metabolites can independently stratify HCC patients into prognostic subgroups. These serum metabolites may be used as non-invasive biomarkers to define prognostic tumor molecular subtypes for HCC.
The research projects under the umbrella of TIGER-LC consortium are valuable resource that can be used as the starting point for a wide range of investigations in fields such as genetics, epidemiology, functional research, and clinical studies. Further efforts of the TIGER-LC Consortium seek to fully understand the biology of liver cancer, the relationship between genetics, environmental exposures, and the etiology of primary liver cancer and aims to identify clinically-relevant biomarkers useful for risk assessment, cancer early detection, tumor subtype classification, prediction of tumor relapse and response to therapy. Our vision is that through these studies we will be able to fundamentally improve outcomes of Thai patients suffering primary liver cancer.
The TIGER-LC Consortium Cancer Cell. 2017
