Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Progenitor Cells Help Detect Liver Cancer Cells

Research team from California University has discovered a type of progenitor cells that will help detection of cancerous cells in human liver. In course of their research they were able to identify and separate cells that cause the origin of HCC tumors known as the primary reason of liver cancer. Benefits in medical science will be that liver cancer can now be detected much ahead of appearance of tumor. According to the principal investigator of the research group Michael Karin, HcPC has its origin in cirrhotic livers. Damages to liver can also be caused by consistent alcohol abuse. "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," said co-author Debanjan Dhar. Findings of the researchers may have substantial impact on the current process of HCC treatments. While this type of cancer is rare in United States in comparison to various other parts of the globe and is also very difficult diagnosing, the discovery may open up new avenues in HCC treatments.

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