More than 860 000 new cases of liver cancer are diagnosed worldwide each year and hepatocellular carcinoma is the most common form, as well as one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortality. This is a particularly complex disease as it occurs in four distinct subtypes, each with its own genetic alterations and molecular characteristics.

Until now, research has come up against a considerable hurdle: the lack of experimental models capable of faithfully reproducing such complexity. This limitation significantly hinders the development of new treatments as it’s not possible to predict how different patients will respond to drugs, thereby impeding progress towards more personalised therapies.

Now, a promising solution has been offered by new study, led by Dr. Josep M. Llovet, Clínic-IDIBAPS researcher, leader of the CaixaResearch Translational Cancer Research Programme and professor at the University of Barcelona. In collaboration with the University of Glasgow, the CaixaResearch team has described 25 mouse models that reproduce, with great precision, the four known subtypes of human hepatocellular carcinoma. By combining these models with organoids – structures that simulate miniature organs – the researchers have succeeded in creating a high-performance platform capable of assessing the efficacy of different drugs according to tumour subtype.

The results, published in the prestigious journal Nature, also detail the platform’s first major achievement for drug screening: the identification of cladribine as a promising therapeutic candidate, in combination with standard-of-care therapy.

“This discovery demonstrates the value of technology in identifying new therapeutic strategies and developing innovative, more precise and personalised treatments that represent an effective solution for patients” explains Dr Llovet.

Want to share this breakthrough? The details of this study are also explained in this thread on X.