{"id":178785,"date":"2023-06-13T13:33:44","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T23:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=178785"},"modified":"2023-06-13T13:33:44","modified_gmt":"2023-06-13T23:33:44","slug":"liver-cancer-vaccine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2023\/06\/13\/liver-cancer-vaccine\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaccines to treat liver cancer part of project at UH<\/abbr> Cancer Center"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 2<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

\"closeup<\/p>\n

\nLiver cancer is the fourth deadliest cancer in Â鶹´«Ã½,<\/span> particularly affecting Native Hawaiian, Filipino and Japanese men. Currently, immunotherapy, a treatment that uses a person’s immune system to fight cancer, is the standard of care for liver cancer patients. However, it is not a cure, as many patients continue to relapse or have minimal improvements after receiving treatment.<\/p>\n

Cancer vaccines are a promising treatment option that can stimulate the body’s natural anti-cancer immune system. However, previous clinical trials using vaccines to treat liver cancer have been unsuccessful. Benjamin Green, liver cancer research specialist at the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> Cancer Center<\/a>, under the mentorship of Xin Chen, UH<\/abbr> Cancer Center researcher and co-leader of the Cancer Biology Program<\/a>, published a study in the Journal of Clinical Investigation<\/em><\/a>, which found that the combination of a cancer vaccine and immunotherapy in mice with liver cancer caused the immune system to kill liver tumors. The results provided a solid base for initiating a clinical trial of this anti-cancer vaccine in human patients in the near future.<\/p>\n

“This is an exciting discovery and one that will hopefully translate into a new immunotherapy treatment option for our patients,” said Jared Acoba, UH<\/abbr> Cancer Center researcher and director of research at the Cancer Center at The Queen\u2019s Medical Center<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Byron Rodrigues, a patient of Acoba, was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) in 2018. Upon diagnosis, Rodrigues immediately received surgery to remove the cancer, however the cancer returned the following year. <\/p>\n

“These new findings will allow patients to be confident in living their lives without having to worry as much about relapsing. By having a better assurance of cancer treatment, patients, as well as family members, would have a better piece of mind and live life moving forward,” said Rodrigues.<\/p>\n

Additionally, Green received funding from the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation<\/a> to develop a new cancer vaccine concept for treating cholangiocarcinoma, a rare but highly aggressive type of liver cancer in which standard treatments are ineffective. <\/p>\n

“I am very excited to apply lessons from our recent publication toward developing another cancer vaccine for this deadly type of liver cancer,” said Green.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

UH<\/abbr> Cancer Center researchers are using liver cancer vaccines to work with a patient’s immune system to fight off the disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[218,1363,169,9],"class_list":["post-178785","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research","tag-cancer","tag-manoa-research","tag-uh-cancer-center","tag-uh-manoa","entry","has-media"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t