New research has shown that a unique pattern of microRNAs, small RNA molecules that regulate gene activity, can accurately predict whether liver cancer will spread and whether liver cancer patients will have shorter or longer survival, even patients with early stage disease. The study, which appeared online January 7, 2008 in Hepatology, was conducted by researchers at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health, and colleagues at Ohio State University, Columbus, and the Liver Cancer Institute in Shanghai, China.
