A liquid biopsy tool for early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma

Liver Cancer

Liver cancer is the sixth most commonly diagnosed cancer and the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common form of liver cancer comprising 90% of cases, of which, 80% – 90% develop in a background of liver cirrhosis. HCC diagnosis, particularly during the early stages of the disease, is critical for successful early curative therapeutic interventions and, consequently, for patient survival. Clinically, HCC routine screening in cirrhotic patients is mainly based on ultrasound analysis of the liver and serum protein marker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) levels. However, this diagnostic approach has shown a sensitivity of only 63%.

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HepatoDetect

HepatoDetect is based on a liquid biopsy aiming at early detection of HCC. It was developed for screening at-risk patients, like those suffering from liver cirrhosis, and to monitor HCC patients who have been subjected to treatment and are at risk of a relapse.

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How it works

HepatoDetect is a non-invasive blood-based liquid biopsy test to analyse the differential methylation in tumour-derived cell-free DNA with high specificity and sensitivity. A proprietary machine learning algorithm interprets the DNA methylation signature to predict HCC .

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Who is it for?

We developed HepatoDetect to support gastroenterologists, hepatologists and hepatobiliary surgeons in their effots to detect liver cancer early at a stage where treatments still result in significantly improved patient outcomes.  HepatoDetect empowers these professionals to:

  • Detect liver cancer early in the context of screening at risk patients with liver cirrhosis while curative-intent interventions are still possible
  • Detect relapse following locoregional or surgical interventions, permiting the timely orientation of the patient to additional treatment.
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Availability

HepatoDetect is not commercially available yet. If you want to participate in the prospective validation of HepatoDetect, get in touch

References

GLOBOCAN 2022, WHO

Parra NS, Ross HM, Khan A, et al. Advancements in the Diagnosis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma. International Journal of Translational Medicine 2023;3(1):51–65.

Perera Mesa H, Lugo L, Altshuler E. Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients With Liver Cirrhosis Secondary to Autoimmune Hepatitis: A Case Series and Literature Review. Cureus 2022;14(10):e30698.

Tarao K, Nozaki A, Ikeda T, et al. Real impact of liver cirrhosis on the development of hepatocellular carcinoma in various liver diseases—meta‐analytic assessment. Cancer Med 2019;8(3):1054–65.

Ge X-Y, Sun M-C, Wang T-Y, et al. Analysis of risk factors of hepatocellular carcinoma and establishment of a clinical prognosis model. Front Oncol 2023;13:1067353.

Li Y, Zheng Y, Wu L, et al. Current status of ctDNA in precision oncology for hepatocellular carcinoma. Journal of Experimental and Clinical Cancer Research. 2021;40(1):140.

Luo B, Ma F, Liu H, et al. Cell-free DNA methylation markers for differential diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma. BMC Med 2022;20(1):8.

Pinto Marques H, Gomes da Silva S, De Martin E, Agopian VG, Martins PN. Emerging biomarkers in HCC patients: Current status. International Journal of Surgery 2020;82:70–6.

Gonçalves E, Gonçalves-Reis M, Pereira-Leal JB, Cardoso J. DNA methylation fingerprint of hepatocellular carcinoma from tissue and liquid biopsies. Sci Rep 2022;12(1):11512.