Researchers identified the genetic pathway of a rare type of highly-fatal liver cancer.
The condition, called intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC), disproportionately affects people in Asian countries, Simon Fraser University reported. Researchers identified the "mutational landscape" of this dangerous form of cancer.
The findings could lead to earlier and more accurate and even increased survival rates for patients suffering from the disease. ICC accounts for only about10 percent of primary liver malignancies across the globe. It is seen in about one in 100,000 people annually in North America but about 96 per 100,000 in Thailand. The disease typically has a poor prognosis because it is rarely detected before the final stages of progression; there are currently no therapies for the cancer and the survival rate is typically between six and nine months after diagnosis.
"Our research is by far the most comprehensive sequencing effort to identify mutations associated with ICC and will be an important resource for scientists working to improve understanding and therapy for the disease," said SFU molecular biology and biochemistry professor Jack (Nansheng) Chen.
The findings revealed important differences in the mutation profile of Chinese ICC patients when compared with patients from other countries, which could have important implications for Chinese Canadians suffering from the disease.
"To get insight into the formation of tumors in these rare cancer types, we have to establish international collaborations like ours to gain access to large sample cohorts," Chen said. "Results from this study could help us understand the driver mutations in Chinese Canadians with intrahepatic bile duct cancer. And our work illustrates that this is a real opportunity and sets up a model for working on rare disease conditions,"
The findings were published Dec. 15 in the journal Nature Communications. A Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Discovery Grant helped fund the research.
