WE ARE DELIGHTED TO PROVIDE AN UPDATE ON THE GROUND-BREAKING RESEARCH INTO IMPROVING OUTCOMES FOR PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM LIVER AND PANCREATIC CANCER FUNDED BY A GRANT FROM LAPR&D WHICH COMMENCED IN MAY 2015 AND BEING CARRIED OUT AT SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF MR. HILAL AND PROFESSOR SALIM KHAKOO.
THE RESEARCH INVOLVES HARVESTING HEALTHY LIVER STEM CELLS FROM LIVER SPECIMENS FROM PATIENTS WHO ARE UNDERGOING LIVER SURGERY TO BE CULTURED OUTSIDE OF THE BODY. AS STEM CELLS REGENERATE THEMSELVES IT COULD MEAN THAT LIVER TISSUE CAN BE GENERATED OUT OF THE BODY. UNLIKE WITH TRANSPLANTS, AS THE CELLS HAVE BEEN TAKEN FROM THE PATIENT, STEM CELLS HAVE LITTLE CHANCE OF REJECTION AND COULD ALSO HELP PATIENTS NEEDING FUNCTIONAL LIVER TISSUE WHETHER THEY ARE SUFFERING FROM NON-FUNCTIONING LIVER AND AWAITING TRANSPLANT OR PATIENTS NEEDING REMOVAL OF A LARGE PART OF THEIR LIVER FOR CANCER TREATMENT. THIS COULD IMPROVE THE OUTCOMES FOR PERSONS WITH SERIOUS LIVER DISEASE.
CURRENT WORK: THE CURRENT STUDY IS FOCUSING ON STUDYING HUMAN LIVER CELL GROWTH IN LABORATORY CONDITIONS. LIVER CELLS HAVE BEEN TAKEN FROM LIVER TISSUE OBTAINED FROM PATIENTS UNDERGOING LIVER SURGERY. IN TOTAL, 44 PATIENTS HAVE BEEN RECRUITED TO THE PROGRAMME AND 66 EXPERIMENTS TO GROW THE CELLS OUT OF THE BODY HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED TO DATE. PROTOCOLS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR ISOLATION AND MAINTENANCE OF LIVER CELLS TO ENSURE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RELIABILITY OF LIVER CELL CULTURE. WE HAVE MANAGED TO GROW THE CELLS AND KEEP THEM ALIVE FOR A FEW DAYS. HOWEVER, WE ARE WORKING TO IMPROVE SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF LIVER CELLS TO ENSURE LIFE LONG FUNCTIONALITY OF THE NEW CELLS. WE CHOSE TWO GROWTH FACTORS (HORMONES) WHICH HAVE BEEN USED TO IMPROVE CELL SURVIVAL IN OTHER TYPES OF TISSUE SUCH AS THE BRAIN AND ARE ASSESSING THE VALUE OF THESE NATURAL GROWTH FACTORS IN THE LIVER. CHALLENGING FACTORS INCLUDE THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIGHT CONCENTRATION OF THOSE GROWTH FACTORS TO ENSURE VIABILITY OF THE CELLS AND AT THE SAME TIME AVOIDING THE TOXIC EFFECT OF TO HIGH A CONCENTRATION. THE INITIAL RESULTS ARE PROMISING AND OUR EXPERIMENTS ARE PROCEEDING AS PLANNED.
IN SEPARATE EXPERIMENTS, EXCITING PROGRESS IS BEING MADE WITH OUR COLLABORATION WITH COLLEAGUES IN THE SCHOOL OF BIO-ENGINEERING AT SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY WITH WHO WERE WORKING ON DEVELOPING A THREE DIMENSIONAL MODEL FOR LIVER STEM CELLS WHICH MAY MIMIC NORMAL LIVER TISSUE CONSTRUCTION. OUR VISION IS TO REALISE A SMALL LIVER FUNCTIONING IN A SIMILAR MANNER TO THE HUMAN LIVER BUT OUT OF THE BODY - "A LIVER ON A PLATE". THIS WILL OPEN UP NEW PROSPECTS FOR THE TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH LIVER DISEASE.
WE WILL PROVIDE A FURTHER PROGRESS UPDATE IN THREE MONTHS TIME BUT IN THE MEANTIME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TO ENSURE THIS IMPORTANT AND UNIQUE RESEARCH CONTINUES PLEASE VISIT http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=LAPCancerCharity OR FOLLOW THE "DONATE" LINK ON OUR WEBSITE.
THE RESEARCH INVOLVES HARVESTING HEALTHY LIVER STEM CELLS FROM LIVER SPECIMENS FROM PATIENTS WHO ARE UNDERGOING LIVER SURGERY TO BE CULTURED OUTSIDE OF THE BODY. AS STEM CELLS REGENERATE THEMSELVES IT COULD MEAN THAT LIVER TISSUE CAN BE GENERATED OUT OF THE BODY. UNLIKE WITH TRANSPLANTS, AS THE CELLS HAVE BEEN TAKEN FROM THE PATIENT, STEM CELLS HAVE LITTLE CHANCE OF REJECTION AND COULD ALSO HELP PATIENTS NEEDING FUNCTIONAL LIVER TISSUE WHETHER THEY ARE SUFFERING FROM NON-FUNCTIONING LIVER AND AWAITING TRANSPLANT OR PATIENTS NEEDING REMOVAL OF A LARGE PART OF THEIR LIVER FOR CANCER TREATMENT. THIS COULD IMPROVE THE OUTCOMES FOR PERSONS WITH SERIOUS LIVER DISEASE.
CURRENT WORK: THE CURRENT STUDY IS FOCUSING ON STUDYING HUMAN LIVER CELL GROWTH IN LABORATORY CONDITIONS. LIVER CELLS HAVE BEEN TAKEN FROM LIVER TISSUE OBTAINED FROM PATIENTS UNDERGOING LIVER SURGERY. IN TOTAL, 44 PATIENTS HAVE BEEN RECRUITED TO THE PROGRAMME AND 66 EXPERIMENTS TO GROW THE CELLS OUT OF THE BODY HAVE BEEN CONDUCTED TO DATE. PROTOCOLS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED FOR ISOLATION AND MAINTENANCE OF LIVER CELLS TO ENSURE THE EFFECTIVENESS AND RELIABILITY OF LIVER CELL CULTURE. WE HAVE MANAGED TO GROW THE CELLS AND KEEP THEM ALIVE FOR A FEW DAYS. HOWEVER, WE ARE WORKING TO IMPROVE SURVIVAL AND GROWTH OF LIVER CELLS TO ENSURE LIFE LONG FUNCTIONALITY OF THE NEW CELLS. WE CHOSE TWO GROWTH FACTORS (HORMONES) WHICH HAVE BEEN USED TO IMPROVE CELL SURVIVAL IN OTHER TYPES OF TISSUE SUCH AS THE BRAIN AND ARE ASSESSING THE VALUE OF THESE NATURAL GROWTH FACTORS IN THE LIVER. CHALLENGING FACTORS INCLUDE THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE RIGHT CONCENTRATION OF THOSE GROWTH FACTORS TO ENSURE VIABILITY OF THE CELLS AND AT THE SAME TIME AVOIDING THE TOXIC EFFECT OF TO HIGH A CONCENTRATION. THE INITIAL RESULTS ARE PROMISING AND OUR EXPERIMENTS ARE PROCEEDING AS PLANNED.
IN SEPARATE EXPERIMENTS, EXCITING PROGRESS IS BEING MADE WITH OUR COLLABORATION WITH COLLEAGUES IN THE SCHOOL OF BIO-ENGINEERING AT SOUTHAMPTON UNIVERSITY WITH WHO WERE WORKING ON DEVELOPING A THREE DIMENSIONAL MODEL FOR LIVER STEM CELLS WHICH MAY MIMIC NORMAL LIVER TISSUE CONSTRUCTION. OUR VISION IS TO REALISE A SMALL LIVER FUNCTIONING IN A SIMILAR MANNER TO THE HUMAN LIVER BUT OUT OF THE BODY - "A LIVER ON A PLATE". THIS WILL OPEN UP NEW PROSPECTS FOR THE TREATMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF PATIENTS WITH LIVER DISEASE.
WE WILL PROVIDE A FURTHER PROGRESS UPDATE IN THREE MONTHS TIME BUT IN THE MEANTIME IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE TO ENSURE THIS IMPORTANT AND UNIQUE RESEARCH CONTINUES PLEASE VISIT http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=LAPCancerCharity OR FOLLOW THE "DONATE" LINK ON OUR WEBSITE.
