Wednesday, June 18, 2025 The HE1 paper published in The Lancet Oncology won the "2024 Till and McCulloch Paper of the year (Clinical)" award recognizing outstanding clinical research in the field of oncology. The Till & McCulloch Award recognizes the most impactful peer-reviewed article of the year by a stem cell or regenerative medicine researcher working in Canada. The Till & McCulloch Award is in honour of Canadian scientists James Till and Ernest McCulloch, whose pioneering work established the field of stem cell research. The Canadian led HE1 trial results, published in Lancet Oncology in December 2024, confirms the quality-of-life benefits of palliative radiation therapy for symptomatic hepatocellular carcinoma and liver metastases.This study represents a significant advancement in cancer research and treatment.“These results showed that one treatment of simple radiation therapy delivered to the liver resulted in clinically important and statistically significant reduction in patient reported pain one month following treatment,” says Dr Laura Dawson, the HE1 study chair and a Radiation Oncologist at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, University Health Network and Professor and Chair of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. “The majority of patients treated experienced reduced pain that allowed them to enjoy more quality time near the end of their life.” One dose of palliative radiation therapy directed to the liver in combination with the standard, best supportive care, reduces pain and discomfort for these patients who are often not a good fit for standard therapies. The study concludes that low dose radiation should be considered a standard palliative intervention for hepatic cancer pain.
