Gene signature for liver cancer recurrence

Traditionally, it is difficult to predict whether a cancer will recur, but recently biomarkers have been increasingly used that predict the recurrence of disease such as in prostate or bladder cancer, or chances of survival as in breast cancer.

Another milestone has recently been reached, this time with liver cancer – a genetic signature has been identified that predicted whether a liver tumor is likely to occur.

A signature made of 186 genes were found by an international team of scientists by probing the gene expression of 6,000 human genes. Correlating the gene expression of some 6,000 human genes with the recurrence at least two years after surgery, and also survival, led to a list of 186 genes as the probable signature for liver cancer recurrence. The team still have to validate their results, but potentially this list can be used to test liver biopsies, and perhaps even guide treatment accordingly.

One significant question out of this study is whether the 186-gene panel is causative for the development of disease, or simply act as markers of risk.