Cancer Research Institute (CRI) fellowship partnership

Timeframe: 2016 – 2023 Goal: Develop and fund a series of three-year FLC research fellowships Overview: FCF has partnered with the prestigious Cancer Research Institute (CRI) to specifically focus on the role immunotherapy may have in creating curative therapies for fibrolamellar. CRI has been promoting immunotherapy research for 65 years, long before the establishment cancer …

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Developing therapeutics for fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma

Timeframe: 2016 – 2017 Goal: Develop new therapeutics for FLC Principal Investigator: Sandy Simon, PhD Investigator Collaboration: Barbara Lyons, PhD (New Mexico State University) Study overview: The goal of this work was to develop therapeutics for FLC. The team identified three independent strategies based on their laboratory’s work showing that a single common DNA alteration …

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Flipping the switch on PKA: synthetic lethal approaches to block PKA-driven tumor growth in fibrolamellar liver cancer

Timeframe: 2016 – 2019 Goal: Understand growth mechanisms and identify potential therapeutic targets Principal Investigators: John Gordan, MD, PhD (UCSF) and Nabeel Bardeesy, PhD (Mass General Hospital) Study overview: The discovery of a genetic change in the protein kinase A (PKA) gene in nearly all cases of fibrolamellar liver cancer (FLC) creates hope that targeted …

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Kinase fusion function investigation

Timeframe: 2016 – 2018 Goal: Investigate DNAJB1-PRKACA fusion kinase function in new fibrolamellar carcinoma models Principal Investigator: Dr. Yi Guo, PhD Study overview: The DNAJB1-PRKACA fusion kinase is found in nearly 100% of FLC cases. While this novel fusion had previously been shown to promote tumors in mice, defining the mechanistic function of DNAJB1-PRKACA and …

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Pre-clinical studies of the interactions of the immune system with FL-HCC

Timeframe: 2016 – 2019 Goal: Study the interactions between the immune system and FLC in a mouse model Principal Investigator: Kevin Barry, PhD Study overview: Cancer immunotherapies harness the power of the immune system to kill tumors. Checkpoint blockade immunotherapies are an exciting class of cancer immunotherapies that remove the brakes from the immune system …

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Investigating immune checkpoint biomarkers in tissue and peripheral blood of patients with fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma

Timeframe: 2016 – 2019 Goal: Define the dominant immune checkpoint pathway in FLC Principal investigator: Amy K. Kim, MD Study overview: Tumor cells produce immune checkpoint molecules that suppress host immune response and allow evasion from immune responses. The discovery of drugs that block these immune checkpoints have revolutionized current cancer treatment. Anti-PD1 (programmed cell …

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T cell immunotherapy in fibrolamellar cancer

Timeframe: 2016 – 2019 Goal: Characterize T-cells in the FLC tumor microenvironment Principal Investigator: Kevin M. Sullivan, MD Study Overview: Immunotherapy is a form of cancer treatment that harnesses the patient’s own immune system to fight the disease. The immune system can precisely target cancer cells, while also minimizing damage to the remainder of the …

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