Precision oncology for hepatocellular cancer: Slivering the liver by fGF19–FGFR4–KLB pathway inhibition

This issue reports two studies, one by Hatlen and colleagues and the other by Kim and colleagues, that detail the drug-development journey of the FGF19–FGFR4 inhibitor fisogatinib (BLU-554), from identification of the drug to preclinical validation studies to finally the results of the proof-of-concept first-in-human phase I trial of this potent and selective, type I irreversible inhibitor of FGFR4. Moreover, Hatlen and colleagues also report a resistance mechanism acquired after therapy that targets selective FGFR4 inhibition, which validates FGF as a specific target in hepatocellular cancer.