Grant: Joint Canada-Israel Health Research Program

Liver cancer is one of few cancers whose incidence is rising worldwide. It is a highly fatal cancer with very few treatment options. One poorly understood risk factor for liver cancer is obesity and metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and fatty liver disease. Since these conditions are reaching epidemic proportions in many countries, we can expect the prevalence of liver cancer to continue to rise. To find new ways to treat liver cancer, our team is trying to identify proteins and cell pathways that influence liver tumor development and growth, specifically in obesity. Combining the expertise of international teams specializing in fatty liver disease, cancer, and circulating hormones, we are investigating whether a new signaling pathway for interleukin 6 (IL6) controls liver tumor development in mice made obese by diets high in sugar and fat, and in obese patients with liver cancer. IL6 is a hormone that circulates in the blood, and thus, has the potential to be both a new biomarker of liver cancer and a new therapeutic target to treat the disease. With this work, we aim to better understand the dietary factors that influence tumor growth and find new ways to diagnosis and treat this highly fatal disease.