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A analysis workforce from the Division of Pathology on the College of Hong Kong’s LKS College of Medication (HKUMed) has found that atorvastatin, a broadly used cholesterol-lowering drug, might grow to be a strong new weapon within the combat in opposition to liver most cancers.
The findings display how this secure, inexpensive treatment can exploit a hidden weak point in liver most cancers cells and enhance the effectiveness of present remedies. The analysis was revealed within the Journal of Hepatology.
Liver most cancers is without doubt one of the deadliest cancers worldwide and is commonly identified at a sophisticated stage when surgical procedure is not an choice. Present remedies comparable to focused medication and immunotherapy have restricted success, offering solely momentary aid for some sufferers.
For sufferers with superior liver most cancers, particularly these with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver illness (MASLD, previously often called NAFLD), which is brought on by a high-fat food plan, therapy choices are restricted and outcomes are poor. Due to this fact, enhancing the therapeutic approaches has grow to be a high precedence.
Repurposing a cholesterol-lowering drug to combat liver most cancers
The analysis workforce at HKUMed has uncovered a novel therapeutic software for atorvastatin, which is a typical treatment taken by hundreds of thousands of individuals to handle excessive ldl cholesterol. The workforce demonstrated for the primary time that atorvastatin can straight assault liver most cancers cells by blocking the “mevalonate pathway,” a metabolic route essential for most cancers cell survival.
This pathway is very lively in liver cancers related to fatty liver illness, making this discovery extremely related to this rising affected person inhabitants.
“Liver cancer cells are adept at surviving by using various escape routes,” defined Professor Carmen Wong Chak-Lui from the Division of Pathology on the Faculty of Scientific Medication, HKUMed, who led the examine.
“We found that these tumor cells rely on the mevalonate pathway to shield themselves from programmed cell death. By blocking this pathway with atorvastatin, we can effectively remove one of their key defenses.”
Enhancing therapy effectiveness by combining atorvastatin with current therapies
Extra excitingly, the analysis workforce discovered that combining atorvastatin with current liver most cancers remedies, such because the focused remedy lenvatinib or immunotherapy medication (anti-PD-1), markedly improves their efficacy, even in MASLD-associated hepatocellular carcinoma (MASLD-HCC).
Laboratory fashions revealed atorvastatin alone decreased tumor progress by 33%. Remarkably, the mixture of atorvastatin with anti-PD-1 remedy decreased tumor weight by almost half (45%), whereas the mixture with lenvatinib led to a 58% discount.
“This approach could be a game-changer, especially for patients with fatty liver-associated liver cancer, which is becoming increasingly common worldwide,” stated Professor Wong.
“Since atorvastatin is already widely used and well-tolerated, our study reveals the novel therapeutic potential for atorvastatin, repositioning it beyond its conventional role in cardiovascular health. It also offers a practical and accessible new way to strengthen current treatments and potentially improve survival outcomes for those with advanced liver cancer.”
The analysis workforce is planning to validate these findings in medical trials, aiming to offer this promising remedy to sufferers as quickly as doable.
If profitable, this strategy might supply new hope to these dealing with one of the crucial difficult cancers by repurposing a well-recognized and inexpensive treatment in a brand-new method.
Extra info:
Yiling Chen et al, Mevalonate pathway promotes liver most cancers by suppressing ferroptosis by means of CoQ10 manufacturing and selenocysteine-tRNA modification, Journal of Hepatology (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2025.06.034
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Ldl cholesterol treatment reveals potential as a novel therapy for liver most cancers (2025, September 12)
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