Treatment to reduce liver cancer tumours is world’s first, Hong Kong researchers claim
- University of Hong Kong team says a new treatment they developed cured a 65-year-old man of late-stage liver cancer
- Research team used ‘reduce and remove’ treatment, which allows patients previously ineligible for transplant to undergo the operation
Researchers at the University of Hong Kong have claimed to be the first in the world to prolong the life of a late-stage liver cancer patient by using a new treatment strategy that reduces the tumour to a state suitable for a transplant.
The Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine announced on Wednesday that researchers had cured a 65-year old resident of stage-four liver cancer by first shrinking the tumour using a “reduce and remove” treatment they had developed.
“There is actually no other effective treatment to shrink any stage-four cancer to stage one at the moment,” Professor Albert Chan Chi-yan, who co-led the research team, said. “This would be the first in the world.
“The recovery of the patient is encouraging. The team is honoured to provide new hope and possibilities for the treatment of liver cancer.”
Doctors said that in November last year 65-year old Wong Lok-wing had only about six months to live owing to a tumour measuring 18.2cm (7 inches) in diameter that had spread to his main portal vein, which transports blood to the liver.