Lewis Roberts, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D.
Lewis Roberts, M.B., Ch.B., Ph.D., (I’ 95, GI ’98), Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, is part of a collaborative team of researchers from Mayo Clinic, Northwestern University, the University of Lagos and the University of Jos, who have been awarded a prestigious U54 Consortia grant entitled “Epigenomic Biomarkers of HIV-Associated Cancers in Nigeria.”
The grant will fund research to understand epigenetic determinants of Nigeria’s two highest-priority HIV-associated cancers: hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cervical cancer. The major scientific premise underlying the study is that cancer epigenetics and infections are inextricably linked, yet significantly understudied in low- and middle-income countries such as Nigeria, where there is a high combined burden of HIV, HCC and cervical cancer.
In Nigeria, the incidence of HCC (the sixth-most-common malignancy worldwide) is 15-20/100,000 persons. It is already the leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men and is emerging as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in HIV-infected persons there. As life expectancy with HIV improves, the incidence and prevalence of HCC will continue to increase, making it a prominent non-AIDS defining cancer. HIV and its adverse effects on the immune system promote transmission and reactivation of oncogenic viral co-infections, such as human papilloma virus (HPV), and hepatitis B and C, greatly increasing the oncogenic potential of HIV-infected individuals. HIV-positive HCC patients generally present at a much younger age, at a more advanced stage of the disease, and the course of disease is highly aggressive, enabling very few patients to benefit from curative or life-prolonging therapies, even when they are available. In a resource-limited setting such as Nigeria, the need for novel biomarkers that can be used for early detection of HCC is urgent. The U54 study will build on emerging science — which has demonstrated that HCC tumors exhibit distinct DNA methylation alterations associated with HCC initiation, progression and metastases — and focus on identifying minimally-invasive, blood-based methylomic markers by comparing blood DNA methylation patterns in HIV-infected and uninfected HCC patients and in HIV-positive but HCC free patients.
Dr. Roberts also is a professor of medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.
