健康英语新闻:HK researchers find male hormone-controlled gene promotes liver cancer

HONG KONG, July 19 (Xinhua) -- A gene controlled by male hormone was critical for the growth of liver tumor, leading to a higher incidence of the disease in men than in women, according to the Chinese University of Hong Kong which made the results public on Tuesday.

There is a significant gender bias in liver cancer incidence. In Hong Kong, men are three times more likely to develop liver cancer than women. Such phenomenon prompted researchers from the university to carry out a genomic location analysis in liver cancer cells starting from 2008.

The researchers discovered, out of 17,000 human genes, that a gene called Cell Cycle-Related Kinase (CCRK) was directly controlled by androgen receptor. They further found that CCRK was critical for the induction of signaling pathway leading to abnormal liver cell growth and tumor formation.

The results also reveal that 70 percent of patients with liver cancer were found to produce high levels of CCRK. More importantly, these patients were more likely to have late-stage cancers and lived shorter than those with low CCRK level.

Using mouse models, the researchers found that either lowering the level or blocking the signaling pathway of CCRK in liver cancer cells could significantly reduce the tumor growth rate.

The study has validated that CCRK is an important gene that has potential to cause liver cancer and the gene can be tested as a new targeted therapy in future.

Vice-Chancellor of the university Joseph Sung, who is also team leader of the research project, said the results explained why men have a higher risk of liver cancer than women and helped push ahead with the development of a novel treatment of the disease.

The above study results were published online in July in Journal of Clinical Investigation.