Sunday, February 9, 2014

Pre-tumor Liver Cancer Progenitor Identifiable

In a major breakthrough in the arena of medical science, Californian researchers have been able to identify progenitor cells that cause tumors in human anatomy that ultimately develops into liver cancer. According to Professor Michael Karin, damaged livers are the best source for generating HcPC tumors. Damages to liver are often results of viral infections such as hepatitis or habits of consistent alcohol consumption. As the co-author of the study Debanjan Dhar says, "It was never established whether dysplastic lesions are just a regenerative (healing) response of the liver triggered by tissue damage or are actually pre-malignant lesions that harbor tumor progenitor cells." HcPC that originates from dysplastic lesions would develop into malignant tumors with the passage of time ultimately turning into cancer of liver. However the progress is largely dependent on the surrounding microenvironment. Achievement of the researchers was that they were able to distinguish HcPC cells from their normal counterparts and the process of their activation.

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