Worldwide trial of new drug for liver cancer

Posted 29th June 2015

Clatterbridge leads the way in innovative trial aiming to tackle one of the most rapidly growing cancers in the UK

A man from Liverpool will become the first patient in the UK to join a worldwide trial of a new drug for people suffering from a form of liver cancer which is affecting an increasing number of people in the UK.

The number of people diagnosed with hepatocellular-carcinoma (HCC) has tripled over the past 30 years, largely owing to lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption, obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The new medicine which is a type of immunotherapy, an increasingly popular form of treatment which uses the body’s own immune system to combat cancer, has already shown positive results in treating other forms of the disease, including skin cancer and lung cancer. The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Wirral, will be the lead site for the trial in the UK, with five other centres also offering this drug to patients with HCC in the coming weeks.

Dan Palmer, chair of medical oncology and the trial lead at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre said: “HCC has a tendency to grow and develop undetected by the immune system, meaning it’s usually in the latter stages of the disease when a patient starts to present symptoms. By using this new treatment, we’re looking to ‘remove the cloak’ from the cancer cells, so they can become recognisable to the immune system and the body has the ability to fight them. It has the potential to be extremely powerful with this particular cancer and we’re very excited to be able to start monitoring its progress at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre and hope to be able to open new doors for some of our patients. HCC is one of the most rapidly growing forms of cancer in the UK. It can be linked to lifestyle factors such as alcoholism, obesity and type 2 diabetes, so it’s hugely important that we find a way to help combat this now.”

The drug will be administered to patients taking part in the trial at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre every two weeks, for up to two years.

Immunotherapy is becoming increasingly popular for cancer treatment and aims to train the immune system to specifically attack cancer cells and strengthen the immune system's response to the disease.

The Centre also offers immune therapy treatments for a number of different cancers, including, lung cancer and head and neck cancer. Some of these drugs are now a standard of care at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, whilst others are currently in the clinical trial stages.

Dan Palmer added: “The Centre will continue to take the lead on as many clinical trials as possible as we strive to offer patients across Merseyside and Cheshire the most pioneering treatments of the future.”