FCF is pleased to announce that it has awarded a grant to Aleksander Skardal, PhD, of Ohio State University to develop new models of fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC). A major challenge to researching FLC is the scarcity of lab models that accurately mimic how this cancer behaves in the human body. To address this, the team plans to build three-dimensional mini-tumors that can be used for testing drugs and studying cancer behavior. The approach developed by the Skardal lab has already been used in several other cancers, including some rare ones.

In this effort, the team plans to use FLC tumor samples obtained from the FCF Biobank to:

• grow 3D mini-tumors
• study the cells within these models — including tumor, immune, and support cells
• if necessary, add specific liver-related immune cells to make the models behave more like real FLC in the body.

If successful, this effort will provide a mechanism to study FLC in a more realistic way and to test new treatments — especially immune-based therapies — faster and more reliably.