Guy and Diehl Receive Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation Grant

Cynthia Guy, MD, associate professor of Pathology, and Anna Mae Diehl, MD, Florence McAlister Professor of Medicine, have been awarded a $125,000 grant by the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation (FCF) to develop novel diagnostic tests and treatments for fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (FHC), a rare but lethal liver cancer affecting just one in 5 million individuals.

The cancer is generally diagnosed in adolescents and young adults without a history of liver disease. Aggressive, the cancer has usually spread beyond the liver by the time it is diagnosed. As a result, the survival rate is low.

Diehl and Guy are principal investigators for “Hedgehog and YAP signaling in Fibrolamellar Carcinoma: Tumor-stroma crosstalk and the cancer stem cell niche.”

The study will evaluate evidence for and against the concept that Hh and Yap signaling between the tumor cells and the stroma is important for FLC growth, and for the perpetuation of cancer stem cells. 

Since its founding in 2010, the Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation has invested nearly $6 million in fibrolamellar research. For more information on the grant and the study, visit the Fibrolameller Cancer Foundation.