Investigating Mechanisms in Liver Development and Tumorigenesis to Improve Cancer Treatment Therapies 

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the third leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Tragically, most patients with HCC present with disease that is too advanced to benefit from potentially curative treatments such as surgical resection or ablation.  

The overarching goal of the Evason laboratory is to define mechanisms involved in liver development and tumorigenesis in order to develop improved therapies to treat this deadly cancer. A major subset of HCC is defined by mutations in the CTNNB1 gene encoding β-catenin, an integral component of the Wnt signaling pathway. These β-catenin-activated HCC represent 20-40% of human HCC, and our current research focuses primarily on these tumors.