Lewis R. Roberts, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D.

The major goal of my laboratory is to understand the mechanisms by which liver cancers develop, grow and spread; with the goal of identifying the critical pathways needed for the growth of individual cancers and eventually being able to provide the necessary information so that a doctor treating a patient with liver cancer can select specific treatments targeted at the growth signaling pathways which are most critical for that individual patient's cancer and can tailor the treatment design to most effectively control or eliminate that specific cancer. This individualized or personalized medicine will allow effective treatment of cancer with minimal side effects.

The second goal of our laboratory is to develop and validate methods for early detection and diagnosis of primary liver, biliary and pancreas cancers.

Current Research Projects in our laboratory that are focused on understanding the development and progression of cancer include:

1. Research into the mechanisms by which a new family of carbohydrate-modifying sulfatases regulates the growth of cancer cells
2. The identification and characterization of the genetic alterations that occur at the site of integration of hepatitis B virus into the host liver cell genome. Hepatitis B virus integration occurs in over 90% of hepatitis B virus-induced primary liver cancers and is thought to contribute to the development of cancer in most cases.

Research Projects directed at the early detection and diagnosis of liver, biliary and pancreatic cancers include:

1. Validation studies of new tumor markers for early diagnosis of liver cancer.
2. Studies to optimize a novel method that uses fluorescence in situ hybridization in diagnosis of biliary and pancreas cancer.
3. Studies to identify new blood, urine or stool markers of biliary and pancreas cancers.