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A study found that a single dose of Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), the vaccine for tuberculosis (TB), reduced liver tumor burden and extended the survival of mice with liver cancer. The study is the first to show the promising effects of the vaccine in treating liver cancer. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer. BCG, the century-old TB vaccine, is considered safe and widely used around the world. BCG is also known to boost the body's immunity. The U.S. FDA has approved it for the treatment of bladder cancer. Yet, the potential effect of BCG in treating...

For patients with embolization-eligible unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC), the addition of durvalumab (D) and bevacizumab (B) to transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) improves progression-free survival (PFS), according to a study. Riccardo Lencioni, M.D. and colleagues randomly assigned patients with embolization-eligible uHCC to D + B + TACE, D + TACE, or TACE in a 1:1:1 ratio (204, 207, and 205 patients, respectively). The primary end point was PFS for D + B + TACE versus TACE. The researchers found that PFS was significantly improved for D + B + TACE versus TACE (median, 15.0 versus 8.2 months; hazard ratio, 0.77). Across most...

An international randomized controlled trial has reported that the combination therapy of atezolizumab and bevacizumab in the adjuvant setting is safe and effective in reducing cancer recurrence in patients with the primary liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), at high risk for recurrence after curative intent resection or ablation. Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer. Liver resection or ablation, a process that uses heat to destroy tumors, are potentially curative treatment options for HCC. Still, 70 to 80% of patients experience cancer recurrence within five years of receiving these treatments. Currently, there is no recognized standard of care for...

Liver cancer is one of the most deadly types of cancer worldwide. Most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, which leaves them with few treatment options. Unfortunately, the first-line drugs are not very effective and offer only modest clinical benefits. Over the past few years, scientists have been trying to develop new therapies for HCC by analyzing specific genetic abnormalities. One of the most common mutations in HCC occurs in CTNNB1 gene, which encodes a protein called β-catenin. However, no therapies targeting β-catenin-related pathways have been approved yet. With this goal, the researchers first conducted a screening experiment using...

Adjuvant therapy with atezolizumab (Tecentriq) and bevacizumab (Avastin) increased recurrence-free survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) following surgical resection or ablation, according to the results from the phase III IMbrave050 clinical trial. The mainstays of curative therapies for early-stage HCC include surgical resection and thermal ablation, a treatment that destroys the cancer cells with heat or cold. However, the risk of recurrence reaches 70%–80% five years after resection or ablation with curative intent, said Pierce Chow, FRCS(E), Ph.D. According to the results of an interim analysis conducted after a median follow-up of 17.4 months, the trial met its primary...

This is important because a biliary stent is only installed if a tumor was large enough to cause blockage of the bile duct from the liver to the intestine. It is typically performed in cases where the patient has cancer on the duct itself and often predicates liver cancer. Again the stent is typically only used in advanced cases and often only surgery is done for early cases:

Liver cancer is one of the most frequent cancers in the world, and with the worst prognosis...The most aggressive and frequent form of liver cancer is hepato-cellular carcinoma (HCC); little is known about it and there are relatively few treatment options. Researchers from the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO), have produced the first mouse model that faithfully reproduces the steps of human HCC development, from the appearance of the first lesions in the liver to the development of metastasis. The results, published in the prestigious journal Cancer Cell, indicate that diets rich in nicotinamide riboside, a derivative of vitamin...

Report looks at liver cancer, fastest-growing cause of cancer deaths in US Significant disparities persist despite availability of effective interventions Date: June 8, 2017 Source: American Cancer Society Summary: A new report provides an overview of incidence, mortality, and survival rates and trends for liver cancer, a cancer for which death rates have doubled in the United States since the mid-1980s Share: FULL STORY A new report provides an overview of incidence, mortality, and survival rates and trends for liver cancer, a cancer for which death rates have doubled in the United States since the mid-1980s, the fastest rise of...

The virus used in the vaccine that helped eradicate smallpox is now working its magic on liver cancer. A genetically engineered version of the vaccinia virus has trebled the average survival time of people with a severe form of liver cancer, with only mild, flu-like side effects. Thirty people with hepatocellular carcinoma received three doses of the modified virus – code-named JX-594 – directly into their liver tumour over one month. Half the volunteers received a low dose of the virus, the other half a high dose. Members of the low and high-dose groups subsequently survived for, on average, 6.7...

Should we be screening blood for hepatisi G?Hepatitis G virus was identified in 1995. Some little research was carried out on the virus and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared it a non-harmful virus in 1997. Researchers in Saudi Arabia, writing in the International Journal of Immunological Studies present evidence to suggest that this may have been the wrong decision. They claim that transmission of the virus through donated blood that was not screened for the virus as well as infection through other routes has led to an increase in cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer. Hepatitis...

Condemned to an early death: Rationing body tells liver cancer victims that life-prolonging drug is 'too costly' http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1229090/Condemned-early-death-Rationing-body-tells-liver-cancer-victims-life-prolonging-drug-costly.html Liver cancer sufferers are being condemned to an early death by being denied a new drug on the Health Service, campaigners warn. They criticised draft guidance that will effectively ban the drug sorafenib - which is routinely used in every other country where it is licensed. Trials show the drug, which costs £36,000 a year, can increase survival by around six months for patients who have run out of options.

ACTOR Patrick Swayze has reportedly started saying goodbye to family and friends after learning his cancer has spread to his liver. The Dirty Dancing and Ghost star, who in January was told he had pancreatic cancer, has started preparing himself for death, reports say "Patrick recently got word that the cancer had spread to his liver and that is what his doctors said would begin the countdown to the end," a source told National Enquirer magazine. "Patrick knew it was coming because he was suffering increased weakness. "At times, he was so weak that he could barely walk without feeling...

Philip Kevin Paulson, a Lutheran preacher's grandson who lost his religion and waged a 17-year legal battle to remove the Mount Soledad cross from public property, died yesterday of liver cancer. He was 59. HOWARD LIPIN / Union-Tribune Mount Soledad cross foe Philip Paulson (left) attended a luncheon in his honor Sept. 3. Mr. Paulson, a 6-foot-5 Vietnam War veteran who lived in City Heights, became one of the county's most reviled residents when he prevailed in a lawsuit against the city of San Diego and continued with years of appeals that still are pending. On July 31, doctors told...

COMBINATION hormone replacement therapy can cause cancer, the UN's agency on the disease has concluded. The International Agency for Research on Cancer said yesterday, based on evidence from recent studies, it has reclassified hormonal menopause therapy from "possibly carcinogenic to humans" to "carcinogenic to humans". The declaration from the World Health Organisation's cancer agency, widely regarded as the international authority on which substances cause cancer, comes after recent research linked HRT to breast cancer. The analysis found oestrogen and progestogen menopause therapy also increases the risk of endometrial cancer when progestogens are taken fewer than 10 days a month. The...

Vitamin K is absolutely essential to build strong bones -- and it is proven to prevent heart disease. For several years, compelling evidence has shown that most people don't get enough vitamin K to protect their health through the foods they eat.Green leafy vegetables supply almost half of the vitamin K for the majority of Americans. Most foods considered rich in vitamin K have shown to have less vitamin K than previously thought. Despite this vital information, the majority of multi-vitamins don't contain any vitamin K at all -- and those that do don't contain enough.Recent research supporting vitamin...