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    • What is cancer?
    • Types of cancer
      • Bowel cancer
      • Blood cancers
      • Breast cancer
      • Lung cancer
      • Melanoma
      • Prostate cancer
      • View 45 other cancers
    • Coping with a diagnosis
      • Coping with emotions
      • Tests and scans
      • Talking to kids about cancer
      • Cancer and your finances
      • Cancer and work
      • Cancer care and your rights
    • Cancer treatment
      • Treatment options
      • Chemotherapy
      • Radiation therapy
      • Surgery
      • Immunotherapy
      • Targeted therapy
      • Hormone therapy
      • Clinical trials
      • Palliative treatment
    • Managing side effects
      • Fatigue
      • Taste and smell changes
      • Heart health and cancer
      • Hair loss
      • Pain and cancer
      • Peripheral neuropathy
      • Changes in thinking and memory
      • Lymphoedema
      • Mouth health
      • Nutrition and cancer
      • Breast prostheses and reconstruction
      • Fertility
      • Sexuality
    • Supporting someone with cancer
      • Caring for someone with cancer
      • Caring for someone with advanced cancer
      • Family and friends
      • Supportive schools
      • Supportive workplaces
      • Caring for mob with cancer
    • Living well during and after treatment
      • Nutrition and cancer
      • Exercise and cancer
      • Complementary therapies
      • Living well after treatment
    • Advanced cancer
      • Living with advanced cancer
      • Caring for someone with advanced cancer
      • Palliative care
      • Facing end of life
      • Coping with grief
    • Information for your community
      • Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander peoples
      • Resources in different languages
      • Resources for LGBTQI+ people
    • Fact sheets, podcasts and more
      • Cancer resource hub – fact sheets, booklets and more
      • Cancer Council Podcasts
  • Get Support
    Our cancer helpline consultants are ready for your call to support all people impacted by cancer. We may be able to assist with direct support services or by putting you in touch with other people who can support you.
    • 13 11 20 – Speak to a cancer professional
    • How can we help you
      • Accommodation during treatment
      • Cancer Counselling
      • Financial Support
      • Legal & Workplace Support
      • Transport to treatment
      • Support after treatment
    • Connect with others
    • Online community
    • Coping with a diagnosis
      • Coping with emotions
      • Talking to kids about cancer
      • Cancer and your finances
      • Cancer and work
      • Cancer care and your rights
    • Health care professionals
    • Cancer stories
    • Cancer podcasts
    • Meditation and relaxation podcasts
  • Preventing Cancer
    Discover lifestyle choices to minimise your risk of getting cancer and the importance of screening and early detection for cancer survival.
    • Healthy diet and exercise
      • Limit alcohol
      • Be a healthy weight
      • Move more, sit less
      • Healthy Made Tasty
      • Our Kids Our Call
    • Quit smoking and vaping
      • Quit smoking
      • Tackling Tobacco
      • Smoke free environments
      • Electronic cigarettes
      • Generation Vape
    • Sun protection
      • Slip on a shirt
      • Slop on sunscreen
      • Slap on a hat
      • Seek shade
      • Slide on sunglasses
      • SunSmart NSW website
      • Improve your long game
      • Outdoor workers
      • Sporting groups
      • Buy sun protection products online
    • Screening and early detection
      • Cervical screening
      • Bowel cancer screening
      • Breast cancer screening
      • Lung cancer screening
      • Testicular cancer
      • Prostate cancer
      • Ovarian cancer
      • Liver cancer and hepatitis B
      • Check for skin cancer
    • CanAct – campaigning for better policies
    • Cancer Council shops
  • Research
    Research programs save lives, improve treatments and quality of life for cancer survivors.
    • Research we conduct
      • The Daffodil Centre
      • I-PaRCS
    • Research we fund
    • Search research by cancer type or topic
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      • Make a major gift
      • Donate crypto
      • More ways to donate
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      • Events calendar
      • Fundraise your way – Do It For Cancer
      • Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea
      • Daffodil Day
      • Relay for Life
      • The Longest Day
      • The March Charge
      • 7 Bridges Walk
      • Stars Dance for Cancer
      • More ways to fundraise
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  • How obesity affects liver cancer

How obesity affects liver cancer

James Cook University 2014–2017

An individual’s risk of liver cancer increases if they are overweight. Dr Lionel Hebbard and his team conducted a long-range study that aimed to quantify the exact impact of metabolic drivers, particularly obesity, on liver cancer prognosis and progression in patients.

Background

Cancer that starts in the liver is relatively rare, but in Australia the rates are rising steeply. In the last two decades, the incidence rate of liver cancer has increased threefold. Survival rates have improved very little over the same period. In Australia, a person diagnosed with liver cancer today has only a 17% chance of surviving for five years or longer.

Added to this picture, it is estimated that at least a third of future liver cancer cases will be due to fatty liver disease, but how obesity and a fatty liver promote cancer growth is unknown. Dr Hebbard and his team suspected that reduced production of a fat-derived hormone (adiponectin) and increased consumption of fructose (sugar from fruit and corn syrup) could be to blame.

The research

Dr Hebbard and his team investigated the role of hormones and sugars in the development and progression of liver cancer to identify new and better ways to prevent and treat liver cancer.
In the laboratory, the team tested a combination of two anti-cancer drugs, rapamycin and dasatinib, on liver tumours. They found that these two drugs used together are much more effective at restricting cancer growth than each drug on its own. Importantly, they found this combination could shrink tumour size by as much as 80%.

In other experiments, the team discovered that fructose promotes the growth of liver cancer and can make it even more aggressive. They also found that when a particular growth hormone is absent from the liver, fructose has the ability to stop tumour growth. Together, these findings show that fructose has the ability to regulate liver tumour growth.

The impact

Dr Hebbard and his team have increased scientific knowledge about the role of obesity, and particularly fructose, in tumour growth. The team have identified a number of genes they hope to target in future studies.

The team hope their work will result in the development of new targeted treatments that will be effective in treating liver cancer.

Research team

Dr Lionel Hebbard
James Cook University
(The University of Sydney at time of award)

Dr Liang Qiao

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