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University of Illinois Cancer Center member Lobna Elkhadragy, PhD, was awarded a two-year, $412,000 grant from the National Cancer Institute to develop precision models of liver cancer through CRISPR editing of primary human liver cells.

The grant builds on pilot funding Elkhadragy received through the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) and a $50,000 pilot project award from the Cancer Center’s American Cancer Society Institutional Research Grant (ACS IRG), which provides seed funding to junior investigators pursuing innovative cancer research.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer, is an aggressive disease with limited treatment options and a poor prognosis. Liver cancer disproportionately affects the Hispanic population in areas served by the Cancer Center.

Current therapies follow a “one-size-fits-all” approach that does not account for the substantial molecular differences among patients’ tumors. Limitations of existing preclinical models have hindered the development of effective targeted therapies.

With support from the NCI grant, Elkhadragy will develop genetically defined HCC models by introducing combinations of mutations commonly found in human tumors into primary human hepatocytes. The project will also establish rat models that can be used to evaluate locoregional therapies, which are difficult to test adequately in mice because of their small size.

“Our goal is to develop a versatile modeling platform that captures the molecular diversity of HCC,” Elkhadragy said. “These models could provide valuable tools for identifying more effective precision therapies and ultimately improving patient outcomes.”

A member of the Cancer Biology Research Program at the Cancer Center, Elkhadragy is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at UIC. The Cancer Center is part of UIC and its academic health enterprise, UI Health.