Hepatocellular carcinoma — one of the most difficult cancers to treat

It usually develops in patients with chronic liver disease, which limits treatment options and increases the risk of complications.

Most cases are detected only at advanced stages, when surgery or transplantation is no longer possible. Even with modern therapies such as targeted drugs and immunotherapy, the disease remains highly resistant, recurrence rates are high, and outcomes are still poor.

HCC is the dominant form of primary liver cancer, responsible for up to 85% of cases worldwide.

Global burden (2022): 866,136 new liver cancer cases and 758,725 deaths. Liver cancer remains among the leading causes of cancer deaths globally.

Stage at diagnosis: only a minority of patients are diagnosed early; around 57% present at intermediate or advanced stages (BCLC).

Future trend: if nothing changes, the global burden is expected to rise by ~55% by 2040 (≈1.4 M new cases and 1.3 M deaths).

Our solution — HepaSwitch

As an interdisciplinary team from four Warsaw universities, we decided to act.

Most therapies struggle to reach tumor cells effectively, and many promising treatments are broken down in the liver before they can even work. We chose to turn this weakness into a strength — by targeting one of the world’s deadliest cancers directly at its source.

HepaSwitch is a synthetic biology project that aims to help patients with liver (HCC) cancer by creating a therapy that is both safe and precise.

Our molecule changes everything. It’s an RNA containing a toehold switch. A region capable of changing its conformation depending on the availability of certain molecules around. But it does not just change its own structure, but also influences its surroundings.

We want our toehold to attach alphafetoprotein mRNA. That’s a specific marker present in HCC cells. While activated, it induces the expression of gasdermin, which induces pyroptosis. A special type of programmable cell death that not only kills the cancer cell but also induces the immune response.

Cancer cells are killed effectively and specifically.

To bring our precise and low-cost HCC therapy to life, we combine DryLab bioinformatics, where we design and optimize RNA switches & WetLab experiments, where we test and validate them.

But science alone is not enough. We also engage with stakeholders, educators, and innovation hubs to ensure that our solution is transparent, scalable, and ready for real-world use.

HepaSwitch is more than a research project — it is proof that synthetic biology can transform challenges into opportunities, bringing us closer to safe, accessible, and personalized cancer therapies.