An effective vaccine can reduce the number of liver cancer cases

Research Grant

Every year, hundreds of thousands die of liver cancer caused by chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. Therefore, it is crucial to prevent the about two million new cases of infection that occur each year. Associate Professor Troels Kasper Høyer Scheel from the Department of Immunology and Microbiology at UCPH has just received DKK 2.9 million from the Independent Research Fund Denmark to develop a complete system for testing vaccine concepts.

Although, effective treatment has recently been developed, only an effective vaccine can reduce the number of associated liver cancer cases.

The latest research from the Copenhagen Hepatitis C Program (CO-HEP) Group at the Department of Immunology and Microbiology shows that a newly discovered HCV-like virus in rats (RHV) is a good model for testing vaccines. Also, it can be studied in both mice and rats in the laboratory.

Similar models have been crucial for advances in the development of vaccines against human papillomavirus (HPV; cervical cancer) and HIV.

In parallel with such animal models, laboratory-based culture systems are important, as they are e.g. necessary to assess whether a vaccine stimulates neutralizing antibodies - which presumably is an essential part of an HCV vaccine.

A complete system for testing vaccine concepts

The aim is to develop such culture systems for RHV and use these for functional studies of viruses as well as to develop neutralization assays. By integrating the culture system with rat and mice models, the researhers in this project achieve a complete system for testing vaccine concepts.

The model will be ideal for preclinical testing of vaccine protection before a vaccine concept is tested in humans - something that is difficult given the severity of the infection as well as access to testing in cohorts with a high risk of infection.

Contact:

Associate Professor Troels Kasper Høyer Scheel