Liver cancer is an increasing health problem in the U.S. today; rates are climbing due to the rising incidence of hepatitis C, a main cause of primary liver cancer. The liver cancer research at John Wayne Cancer Institute will be performed in collaboration with Steven D. Colquhoun, M.D., F.A.C.S., Surgical Director, Liver Transplantation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles.

Better genetic and protein-based cancer blood biomarker tests will help doctors more closely and accurately monitor a cancer patient ™s condition and manage it more effectively, Dr. Hoon explained. This is critically important in cancer, where we want to identify which patients are responding to therapy and which aren ™t, without delay. If a patient needs a different treatment, it makes sense to quickly switch to something with a chance of being more effective, rather than taking a watch and wait ™ approach.

For other problems such as heart disease, we have much better tests, Dr. Hoon continued. Look at blood pressure and cholesterol. If test results show that a patient is not responding to medication, we can change that medication immediately, rather than waiting until something bad happens--like a heart attack.

Cancer diagnosis and therapy today still rely heavily on imaging and observation, Dr. Hoon concluded. Cancer biomarker tests will give doctors clearer insights into each patient ™s condition and response to therapy, and potentially save lives by ensuring that cancer patients receive the most effective treatment, as quickly as possible.

SOURCE Saint John ™s Health Center