[{"command":"add_css","data":[{"rel":"stylesheet","media":"all","href":"\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_-kTcRwkqPhQLsqEvdSSyU2XZ3CV5VEleXoE3_xZi2cg.css?delta=0\u0026language=de\u0026theme=hm_theme\u0026include=eJxLzi9K1U8pKi1IzNErSa0oSSxKTdQtSi3OrEoFAJQ3Cqw"}]},{"command":"openDialog","selector":"#drupal-modal","settings":null,"data":"\u003Cdiv id=\u0022republish_modal_form\u0022\u003E\u003Cform class=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form ecl-form\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 action=\u0022\/de\/article\/modal\/10084\u0022 method=\u0022post\u0022 id=\u0022modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 accept-charset=\u0022UTF-8\u0022\u003E\u003Cp\u003EHorizon articles can be republished for free under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence.\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EYou must give appropriate credit. We ask you to do this by:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      1) Using the original journalist\u0027s byline\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      2) Linking back to our original story\u003Cbr \/\u003E\n      3) Using the following text in the footer: This article was originally published in \u003Ca href=\u0027#\u0027\u003EHorizon, the EU Research and Innovation magazine\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003ESee our full republication guidelines \u003Ca href=\u0027\/horizon-magazine\/republish-our-stories\u0027\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n      \u003Cp\u003EHTML for this article, including the attribution and page view counter, is below:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-form-item form-item js-form-type-textarea form-item-body-content js-form-item-body-content ecl-form-group ecl-form-group--text-area form-no-label ecl-u-mv-m\u0022\u003E\n        \n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n  \u003Ctextarea data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 aria-describedby=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 id=\u0022edit-body-content\u0022 name=\u0022body_content\u0022 rows=\u00225\u0022 cols=\u002260\u0022 class=\u0022form-textarea resize-vertical ecl-text-area\u0022\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EA silent killer, liver cancer prompts race to improve organ replacements\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Cp\u003EMore victims of liver cancer stand to survive as a result of a hospital test being rolled out by a Portuguese start-up medical company. The test identifies patients for transplant who otherwise would be viewed as ineligible.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELiver cancer is deadly and frequently goes undetected until it is advanced because diagnosis requires hospital-imaging equipment. If the disease has progressed, often the only cure is a liver transplant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ESurge of cases\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018You must take the liver out that has the disease and put in a new liver,\u2019 said Dr Jose Pereira Leal, chief executive officer of Lisbon, Portugal-based Ophiomics Precision Medicine, which developed the new exam with the help of \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/946364\u0022\u003EEU funding\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECases of liver cancer in Europe have tripled since 1980, according to Ophiomics. In 2020, 87 000 Europeans were diagnosed with this disease and 78 000 died from it, according to \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/healthpolicy-watch.news\/liver-cancer-europe\/\u0022\u003EHealth Policy Watch\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFurthermore, there is a shortage of donor organs and patients on transplant waiting lists are dying. Because it is often diagnosed too late for treatment, the disease has been called a \u201csilent killer.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDoctors face difficult decisions about liver recipients, rating a patient\u2019s cancer according to a system that mainly looks at the size and number of tumours.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003EWe increased the number of patients that can be eligible for transplantation by 30%.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003EDr Jose Pereira Leal, HepatoPredict\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBut this approach is imperfect. Up to 30% of patients who receive a transplant are left uncured. Meanwhile, some patients deemed ineligible for a liver transplant are better candidates than it would seem.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The criteria frequently fail,\u2019 said Dr Pereira Leal. \u2018People may be denied treatment that could cure them.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDeceptive appearances\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFocusing on the outward appearance of tumours, and especially their size and number, to determine eligibility for treatment can be misleading.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Someone may have a large tumour, but it is indolent and not doing anything,\u2019 Dr Pereira Leal said. Under the current criteria, tumour size may rule out a transplant that could in fact cure the patient.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThree-quarters of liver cases in Europe are of a type called hepatocellular carcinoma, which, when diagnosed late, sees only one in 10 victims survive five years or more.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDr Pereira Leal and his colleagues developed \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/journals.lww.com\/annalsofsurgery\/Fulltext\/2022\/11000\/A_Gene_Expression_Signature_to_Select.18.aspx\u0022\u003Ea new way to predict\u003C\/a\u003E whether a victim would undergo a resurgence of liver cancer after a transplant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETheir test takes a tiny piece of a patient\u2019s liver with a thin needle and looks at four key genes in those cells. An algorithm based on these markers, along with clinical measures, was better at predicting which patients would benefit most from a transplant.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe researchers successfully turned this scientific discovery into a commercial prediction tool, available to hospitals as a product called HepatoPredict.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\u0022text-center text-blue font-bold text-2xl w-full lg:w-1\/2 border-2 border-blue p-12 my-8 lg:m-12 lg:-ml-16 float-left\u0022\u003E\n  \u003Cspan class=\u0022text-5xl rotate-180\u0022\u003E\u201c\u003C\/span\u003E\n  \u003Cp class=\u0022font-serif italic\u0022\u003EHaving functional tissue in an animal for several weeks or months will really pave the way for the next step \u2013 clinical testing in humans.\r\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n  \u003Cfooter\u003E\n    \u003Ccite class=\u0022not-italic font-normal text-sm text-black\u0022\u003EDr Gilles Weder, ORGANTRANS\u003C\/cite\u003E\n  \u003C\/footer\u003E\n\u003C\/blockquote\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIts rate of accurate predictions is 94% compared with 67% to 80% for other scoring systems, according to Dr Pereira Leal.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Not only that, we increased the number of patients that can be eligible for transplantation by 30%,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETwo or three patients have already received a liver thanks to the test.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ELab-grown livers\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAn alternative to donor transplants for saving the lives of liver-cancer victims is to take some of their healthy cells and grow them into a new organ in a laboratory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EResearchers in an EU-funded project called \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/project\/id\/874586\u0022\u003EORGANTRANS\u003C\/a\u003E grow liver cells from patients\u2019 stem cells, which get printed out as liver tissue.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAimed at patients with either chronic or end-stage liver disease, the approach is no simple task. It requires organoids to be grown and kept alive in a lab.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cfigure role=\u0022group\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cimg alt=\u0022Bioprinter from Organtrans \u00a9 Gilles Weder\u0022 data-entity-type=\u0022file\u0022 data-entity-uuid=\u0022b8434ec7-cdc4-4a95-846b-4c8ff1cd5ef4\u0022 src=\u0022\/sites\/default\/files\/hm\/IMCEUpload\/Organtrans_crop.jpg\u0022\u003E\n\u003Cfigcaption class=\u0022italic mb-4\u0022\u003EBioprinter from Organtrans \u00a9 Gilles Weder\u003C\/figcaption\u003E\n\u003C\/figure\u003E\n\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Organoids are a sort of mini-organ that you create from patient cells in a lab and they are composed initially of stem cells,\u2019 said Dr Gilles Weder, coordinator of ORGANTRANS at Switzerland-based technological research organisation CSEM. \u2018They have the same genetic makeup as the patient.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EConsequently, organoids would be less likely to be targeted by a patient\u2019s immune system\u0026nbsp;\u2013 a reaction that can lead to organ rejection.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ETissue challenge\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe big challenge is to build this piece of liver tissue into a more complex structure that contains a blood-vessel network to deliver nutrients and oxygen to cells.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EKey to creating such liver tissues, according to Dr Weder, is a bioprinter containing cartridges with organoids and solutions with hydrogels.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018As it is printed, you have a gelation of the architecture to avoid the collapse of the tissue and to really keep the 3-D shape,\u2019 he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne printer needle delivers the different components onto a sterile surface to manufacture the liver tissue. Everything must be kept clean and bacteria cannot be allowed to contaminate the sample.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe research ultimately aims to grow living tissue in a lab that would be put into patients \u2013 either to supplement an unhealthy liver or to replace it entirely.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor now, project scientists have printed small tissue samples and kept them alive for several weeks. The goal is to build mini-livers that can be implanted into mice.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018We have a clear plan to start testing this from January to June,\u2019 Dr Weder said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E10-year horizon\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile the technology is possibly 10 years away from being used in hospitals, the scientists are moving it closer to reality.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018Having functional tissue in an animal for several weeks or months will really pave the way for the next step \u2013 clinical testing in humans,\u2019 said Dr Weder.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn Lisbon, Dr Pereira Leal praises the funding that HepatoPredict received from the European Innovation Council, a flagship EU innovation programme.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u2018The product would not have existed without the grant, which allowed us get to market,\u2019 he said. \u2018Private investors said what we had was exciting, but it was only a scientific discovery and the risk was too high for them to invest in as a business.\u2019\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EResearch in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003C\/textarea\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n            \u003Cdiv id=\u0022edit-body-content--description\u0022 class=\u0022ecl-help-block description\u0022\u003E\n      Please copy the above code and embed it onto your website to republish.\n    \u003C\/div\u003E\n  \u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003Cinput autocomplete=\u0022off\u0022 data-drupal-selector=\u0022form-v7wjruji0wlykszjirsbdxjusgqjsprtejz82ugidwq\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_build_id\u0022 value=\u0022form-v7wjrujI0WLYKSzJiRsBdXjuSgQJSPrTejZ82uGIdWQ\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003Cinput data-drupal-selector=\u0022edit-modal-form-example-modal-form\u0022 type=\u0022hidden\u0022 name=\u0022form_id\u0022 value=\u0022modal_form_example_modal_form\u0022 \/\u003E\n\u003C\/form\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E","dialogOptions":{"width":"800","modal":true,"title":"Republish this content"}}]