The full-day event brought together researchers, clinicians, trainees, programme managers, and patient and public involvement (PPI) representatives to discuss recent advances and future directions in liver cancer research. The programme covered early cancer detection, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) biology and immunology, spatial biology, PPI, and emerging therapeutic approaches.
The symposium opened with a welcome from Professor Ellie Barnes, OLivE Director, followed by a session on early cancer detection chaired by Dr Waleed Fateen. Professor Helen Reeves (Newcastle University) discussed the development of liquid biopsy tools for treatment stratification in advanced HCC, while Professor Benjamin Schuster-Böckler (Ludwig Institute) presented research on methylation-aware sequencing of cell-free DNA for early cancer detection. DPhil student Shalin Abraham also shared preliminary findings on multimodal cell-free DNA detection of HCC.
The second scientific session, chaired by Dr Felipe Galvez-Cancino, focused on cancer biology and the immunology of HCC. Professor Alexander Raven (University of Glasgow) explored experimental models of liver tumour initiation, while DPhil student Maria Armero presented research on the phagocytic landscape in HCC and its relevance for developing novel antibody-based therapies. Professor James L Reading (UCL Cancer Institute) concluded the session with a talk on regulatory T-cell networks and their potential role in cancer interception.
The afternoon session, chaired by Dr Alex Gordon-Weeks, highlighted how spatial biology is advancing understanding of liver cancer and liver disease. Talks from Dr Tamsin Cargill, Medhi Boutasbih, Jonas Mackerodt and Dr Adrien Hallou explored how spatial imaging, proteomics, transcriptomics and computational approaches are revealing the complex interactions between cells, tissues and disease processes. Together, the presentations demonstrated how spatial technologies are providing new insights into tumour evolution, immune responses, viral-associated liver disease and metastasis.
The programme also featured a PPI session led by Dr Alex Gordon-Weeks and Oxford Cancer's Patient and Public Involvement Manager, Catriona Gilmour-Hamilton, focusing on establishing a surgical PPI group for liver metastasis.
The symposium concluded with a panel discussion, Cancer vaccines and immune-regulatory antibodies in HCC: facts and hopes, featuring Professor Ellie Barnes, Dr Felipe Galvez-Cancino, Professor James L Reading and Dr Jamie D'Costa. Reflecting on the day's discussions, the panel explored the opportunities and challenges facing immunotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma and considered future directions for liver cancer research.