The Childhood Liver Oncology Group (c-LOG) is a pioneering group focused on research intoa paediatric liver cancer in Spain. Our main goals are to increase the molecular knowledge of hepatoblastoma, the main liver cancer in children and an extremely rare disease, in order to understand why these tumours arise in children and then to identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets to improve quality of life and survival of patients with primary liver cancer, including hepatocellular carcinoma (the main liver cancer in adults).

Research lines

In order to boost translational research into childhood liver cancer, in 2010 we created the first national collection of biospecimens from patients with liver cancer called CLCN, (ISCIII National Biobank Registry, collection section, ref. C.0000226). The collection also includes samples from adult patients diagnosed with hepatocellular carcinoma, cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis. This has been possible thanks to our participation within the PHITT Trial and collaborations with more than 70 European hospitals, including the Germans Trias i Pujol University Hospital.

The CLCN collection is the basis of our 3 main research lines

Research line 1. Understanding the molecular biology of childhood liver cancer using the latest high-throughput technologies (i.e. RNA-sequencing, proteomic profiling, methylation array, whole genome sequencing) and computational tools. One of our main interests is to improve the knowledge of rare and highly aggressive forms of childhood liver cancer that are resistant to current therapies to design innovative therapies.

PI: C. Armengol

Research line 2. Identification and validation of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers to improve the clinical management of childhood liver cancer using diagnostic tissue and blood samples obtained from European patients enrolled in the Paediatric Hepatic International Tumour Trial.

PI: C. Armengol

Research line 3. Establishing new experimental models of childhood liver cancer (i.e. patient-derived xenografts, patient-derived organoids) to test innovative therapies against tumour cells.

PI: C. Armengol

Acknowledgements

Title: Molecular analysis of hepatoblastoma: transcriptomic, genomic and methylomic study

Recipient: Juan Carillo Reixach
Code: 2019 FI_B 01024
Start Date: 01/04/2019
End Date: 31/03/2022

European Social Funds – Investing in Jobs and Skills

Title: Understanding hepatoblastoma to design new personalized treatments

PI: Pau Sancho
Agency code: PI046093
Start date: 1/12/2019
End date: 30/11/2022

Title: Recerca Translacional en patología hepàtica i immunitat innata

PI: Carolina Armengol
Agency code: 2017 SGR490
Start date: 1/1/2018
End date: 31/12/2021

Outreach by the group

For families and patients with liver cancer: please download "The Little Scientist" a book written and illustrated to explain the important role of the children with liver cancer in our research. It is in the process of being translated into Spanish, Catalan, French and Polish!

Each December the cLOG team schedule a meeting with the families of the children with liver cancer and parent's associations to keep them up to date with our research and obtain their feedback.

You can follow us on twitter at @cLOG_Lab