Columbus, Ohio -- U.S. scientists said tiny molecules that help cells regulate which proteins they make might one day help physicians predict liver cancer patient survival.

The Ohio State University-led study compared levels of molecules called microRNA in tumor and adjacent non-tumor cells from liver cancer patients, most of whom also had hepatitis and cirrhosis.

The study found patients with poor disease-free survival had low overall levels of 19 specific microRNAs, compared with those showing better survival after 16 years of follow-up.

"The findings must be verified in larger groups of patients, but they suggest that we might improve survival in some liver cancer cases by adding back those microRNAs as a drug," said Associate Professor Thomas Schmittgen, the study's principal investigator.

However, Schmittgen added, that possibility would require years of additional laboratory and pre-clinical research.

The work that included researchers at the Mayo Clinic and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center is published in the Jan. 15 issue of the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

Copyright 2008 by United Press International.