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Advancing innovation and excellence
Personalising liver cancer treatment
Funds raised by the late Mark Thornberry, King’s
patient and Charity supporter, are helping to
advance our understanding of hepatocellular
carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of
primary liver cancer.
PhD student Robert Nkwo is using cutting-edge
machine-learning models and biological data from
patients to examine the disease at a molecular level.
By developing different computational models of HCC
and learning which genes and proteins drive it, Robert’s
findings could help to ensure earlier diagnosis of the
disease, as well as lead to the development of patientspecific treatments.
In a separate study, PhD student Roger Fontana is using
the funds raised by our supporters to investigate the
role of mitochondria function in patients with HCC.
Mitochondria are small structures within cells that
produce about 90 percent of the chemical energy that
cells need to survive. Cancer cells have high energy
requirements and it is becoming increasingly clear that
they use particles, called extracellular vesicles (EVs),
to promote their survival and progression. Roger is
devising ways to isolate and study these particles. If
he can show how cancer cells use EVs to alter the way
energy is used, there is potential to use them to help
diagnose and control liver cancer.
“I am frustrated that I cannot be
cured but know that every penny
I can raise will help the medics
better understand liver cancer
progressions and allow them to
treat people like me in the future.”
Mark Thornberry, 1960-2020
King’s College Hospital Charity are indebted
to the philanthropists who have the vision
to invest in new ideas and practices. They, in
partnership with some of the leading experts
in liver disease, are helping to transform care
and treatment for patients, enabling us to go
further, together. If you would like to find out
more, please get in touch at
philanthropy@supportkings.org.uk
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