Phase III Opdivo + Yervoy trial meets primary endpoint in advanced HCC

Devanand Sarkar and a team of scientists at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered that the gene TAF2 plays a pivotal role in the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma. The researchers found that TAF2 is overexpressed in HCC patients compared to individuals with healthy livers, and that TAF2 regulates the survival of hepatocytes—the functional cells of the liver—and tumor formation. Their study—recently published in the journal Hepatology also demonstrates that TAF2 cooperates with the MYC gene, another known major driver of cancer, to accelerate tumor growth.