The Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA) is urging the Federal Government to prioritise liver cancer including through the funding of checkpoint inhibitors.

GESA spokesman Professor Darrell Crawford told the limbic that while many hepatologists haven’t yet had experience with immunotherapies, the profession was keen to maintain its leadership role in the multidisciplinary care of patients.

“The rapid increase in liver cancer is largely driven by hepatitis and fatty liver disease.  The cancers nearly always originate in scarred and damaged livers and the traditional multidisciplinary approach to management is because of the complexity of the underlying disease.”

He said management to date had relied on surgery, radiotherapy techniques and oral medicines to slow tumour growth rate.

“We are likely to see better treatments emerge over time,” he said. “However other factors also determine survival.”

Professor Crawford, from the University of Queensland and research director at the Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation, said early detection of liver cancer significantly widened therapeutic options for patients.

He stressed the importance of guideline-based surveillance for liver cancer in at-risk people.

Speaking ahead of a two-day workshop on hepatocellular carcinoma at the Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation in Brisbane, Professor Crawford also called for more government investment in early diagnosis and interventions such as the treatment of hepatitis B and C.