Targeted treatment for liver cancer under way

Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland and Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen have discovered a new molecular mechanism that can be used to inhibit the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma, which is the most common liver cancer. The findings were published in Nature Medicine. The study found that mouse and human liver cancer in which the function of the protein p53 is disturbed or inhibited is dependent on the interaction between the Aurora kinase A (AURKA) and MYC proteins. Interfering the AURKA protein with a specific drug molecule inhibits this interaction and causes cancer