For a novel investigation into a common and deadly form of liver cancer, Penn Medicine oncologist and PC3I Innovation Fellow Timothy Brown, MD, recently received the Conquer Cancer Merit Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO).

“This award is a testament to the work of our entire team at Penn Medicine,” said Brown, who is also a third-year fellow with Penn Medicine’s Division of Hematology and Oncology. “We were very excited to help advance our understanding of this deadly disease.”

Hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC, is the most common primary form of liver cancer. According to one estimate, HCC accounts for up to 85 percent of all liver cancer cases, which together caused about 31,000 deaths in the US in 2019. More than half of all HCC patients in the US die within two years of diagnosis.

ASCO recognizes a select number of investigators who submit particularly notable research for presentation at an ASCO event. Brown, senior faculty mentors Ronac Mamtani, MD, MSCE and Thomas Karasic, MD, and colleagues’ winning research found that no significant connection exists between the etiology, or specific causes, of HCC and overall survival rates.

Brown presented the abstract at the 2023 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium. He also presented two other posters at the meeting, one focusing on a novel potential HCC treatment, with senior faculty mentors Thomas Karasic, MD and Edgar Ben-Josef, MD, and the other examining reversion mutations and outcomes in patients with advanced BRCA and PALB2-mutated pancreas cancer, with senior faculty mentor Kim Reiss Binder, MD. Additionally, Brown was selected as a Featured Voice for the symposium, sharing insights and facilitating discussion among attendees via Twitter.