Deep Liver Phenotyping and Immunology Study (DELPHI)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma are the two most common causes of primary liver cancer and HCC is the second highest cause of cancer death worldwide. It is known that most of these cancers occur in patients who already have a liver condition. Despite close monitoring of many patients who have liver disease with regular ultrasound scans, HCC and cholangiocarcinoma are often discovered at a late stage. This is because they rarely cause symptoms until they have reached an advanced stage. Early identification of these cancers would enable more patients to have curative treatments such as surgery or liver transplantation.

The investigators want to collect blood and urine samples as well as small samples of cells directly from the liver. In some cases this will be done using a technique called liver fine needle aspiration. This technique is low risk and has been successfully used in other studies. The investigators will compare samples from patients with cancer to those of patients with other diseases of the liver who are at risk of developing cancer in the future.

The investigators aim to detect changes in the liver, blood, urine and/or bile of patients who have liver conditions that could tell us their risk of a future cancer. These changes could be in the types of white blood cells found within the liver, or, they may be in products secreted by liver cells. In the latter case the liver cells may release small pieces of their DNA that could be detected in the blood. When liver cells are dysfunctional, they may also change the types of metabolic products that they produce, and the investigators may be able to detect these changes in the urine or bile.