Professor Yoo discovers specific protein expression in HCC

Professor Changhoon Yoo, Department of Oncology, Asan Medical Center

Patients with overexpressed TMEM176A/B protein did not respond to immuno-oncology drug + targeted anticancer drug combination therapy

Clinical trial results supported by CMIC Korea were published in an international journal, Nature Medicine

Professor Changhoon Yoo, Department of Oncology, Asan Medical Center

On the 15th, CMIC Korea, a contract research organization (CRO), announced that the results of the RENOBATE (IIT, Phase II) trial led by Professor Changhoon Yoo (Department of Oncology, Asan Medical Center) were recently published in the international academic journal, Nature Medicine (IF=82.9).

 

This is the first time the results of a clinical study conducted by a Korean researcher have been published in Nature Medicine.

 

In the RENOBATE 42 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma were administered the immunoconology drug regorafenib in combination with the targeted anticancer drug nivolumab.

 

The study used circulation tumor DNA and single-cell RNA sequencing analysis to identify the characteristics of immune cells expressed in patients who did not respond to the combination therapy.

 

The recent development of immuno-oncology drugs, also known as 3rd generation anticancer drugs, that offer better anticancer effects with less toxicity and side effects, has raised hopes for many cancer patients.

 

However, 3 out of 10 patients with HCC were either not responding to or getting worse with the use of targeted anticancer drug+immune-oncology drug combination therapy.

 

The RENOBATE study found that these patients had more than 2 times more expression of a specific protein called TMEM176A/B.

 

This is very promising news for HCC patients who were unable to see much effect with the use of existing anticancer therapies and raises expectations for further developments.

 

The study, which has raised the profile of Korea’s anti-cancer research, was initiated by Professor Changhoon Yoo in 2019 with his collaborators and was completed 3 and a half years later in late 2022.

 

Even though the study was an investigator-initiated trial, which usually has a small amount of research funding, CMIC Korea, the first clinical contract research organization (CRO) in Korea, took charge of monitoring, data management, and clinical analysis to ensure and collect accurate and ethical clinical research data.

 

According to Professor Yoo, this has helped improve the credibility of his research, which has been recognized by peer review and Nature Medicine.

 

This has also been mentioned in the methodology part of the paper as well.

 

Professor Yoo said, "We will continue on our efforts to support patients suffering from incurable diseases through reliable clinical research."