CUHK develops breakthrough chemo formula, extends liver cancer patients survival by 17 months
發佈日期: 2026-03-27 20:22
TVB News
A research team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong has developed a new chemotherapy drug formula that can extend the survival of patients with intermediate-stage liver cancer by more than 17 months.
74-year-old Mr. Mak, who has been afflicted with chronic hepatitis B, experienced sudden weight loss a decade ago and was diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma.
By the time of diagnosis, the disease had already advanced to a mid to late stage, leaving chemotherapy as the primary course of treatment.
Referred to CUHK Faculty of Medicine clinical team, he received four rounds of transarterial chemotherapy. After the treatment, scans showed his overall liver tumours shrank by around 90 percent.
Mr. Mak says he remained conscious and pain-free throughout the treatment, noting that the therapy's effectiveness has given cancer patients hope.
The research team from CUHK says patients in such cases rarely survive for more than 2 years, and the treatment helps Mak remain in very good health over the past ten years.
According to the Faculty of Medicine of CUHK, this new chemotherapy drug formula uses the water-free chemotherapy agent -- cisplatin -- combined with iodised oil, allowing the drug to dissolve slowly in the bloodstream.
So the drug can maintain a high concentration within the tumour over a longer period.
The research team says the treatment is minimally invasive as the incision is only about the size of a sesame seed.
It does not require general anesthesia either, and patients usually recover within a week.
Between 2016 and 2023, the team conducted clinical trials involving 77 liver cancer patients aged 49 to 86 receiving traditional and new formulas over six months.
Imaging scans show 90 percent of the tumours were completely eliminated among patients who took the new formulation.
Median overall survival reached 53.3 months, some 17 months more than patients who used the traditional method.
In terms of side effects, patients have more elevated liver enzymes, but most liver dysfunction cases returned to normal within two weeks.
