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National Cancer Institute awards $2.7 million grant for liver cancer research
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The National Cancer Institute awarded Wei Jia, MD, shared resources director at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, a $2.7 million grant for his liver cancer prevention study, according to a press release from the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.
Hawaii has the highest rate of liver cancer in the nation, according to the release. The grant will be used to study how gut bacteria can damage the liver and lead to the development of liver cancer and fibrosis.
Wei Jia
“Bacteria in the gut plays a big role in liver health,” Jia said in the release. “In the past, people did not think gut bacteria was related to liver cancer. Understanding a disease was usually confined to a specific organ, but diseases involve organ-to-organ interactions.”
According to the release, Jia and colleagues will look at various gut bacterial products and determine if and how these compounds damage the liver once they accumulate. One of the project’s goals is to see if regulating bile acid metabolism can protect the liver from long-term disease and infection, such as cirrhosis and cancer.
The grant was effective August 1.
Disclosures: Jia reports being employed by the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.