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Background Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common and lethal malignant tumors worldwide. Over the past 15 years, the incidence of HCC has more than doubled. Due to late diagnosis and/or advanced underlying liver cirrhosis, only limited treatment options with marginal clinical benefit are available in up to 70% of patients. During the last decades, no effective conventional cytotoxic systemic therapy was available contributing to the dismal prognosis in patients with HCC. A better knowledge of molecular hepatocarcinogenesis provides today the opportunity for targeted therapy. Materials and Methods A search of the literature was made using cancer literature, the PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science (WOS) database for the following keywords: “hepatocellular carcinoma,” “molecular hepatocarcinogenesis,” “targeted therapy,” and “immunotherapy.” Discussion and Conclusion. Treatment decisions are complex and dependent upon tumor staging, presence of portal hypertension, and the underlying degree of liver dysfunction. The knowledge of molecular hepatocarcinogenesis broadened the horizon for patients with advanced HCC. During the last years, several molecular targeted agents have been evaluated in clinical trials in advanced HCC. In the future, new therapeutic options will be represented by a blend of immunotherapy-like vaccines and T-cell modulators, supplemented by molecularly targeted inhibitors of tumor signaling pathways.

Over the last years it has started a real revolution in the treatment of chronic hepatitis C. This occurred for the availability of direct-acting antiviral agents that allow to reach sustained virologic response in approximately 90% of cases. In the near future further progress will be achieved with the use of pan-genotypic drugs with high efficacy but without side effects. Core tip: This review analyzes the current therapies for chronic hepatitis C and the future challenges of the research. So it tries to give an update on the research of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, providing a critical view of the emerging therapies and their impact on the future management of HCV infection. Since novel TOPIC HIGHLIGHT Chronic hepatitis C: This and the new era of treatment2016 Hepatitis C Virus: Global view treatments for HCV infection are highly efficacious but costly, priority should be given to patients with advanced hepatic fibrosis, which is a disease that cannot be deferred. INTRODUCTIONThe hepatitis C virus (HCV), identified in the 70s but cloned in 1989, is a single-stranded RNA virus belonging to the family Flaviviridae.HCV is the main cause of progressive liver diseases and a public health problem worldwide. It is estimated that approximately 150-180 million people in the world are living with chronic hepatitis [1,2] , 350 million of whom die each year from liver damage associated with the infection [3] . About 80% of people infected with HCV develop chronic hepatitis, of which 20%-40% will develop liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) 20-30 years after infection.As a consequence, chronic HCV infection is the major reason of liver transplantation in developed countries [4][5][6][7] . According to the Global Burden Disease Study in Europe, the death rate for viral hepatitis is significantly higher than that for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome; in particular in 2010, the number of deaths from viral hepatitis have been ten times bigger than that attributed to HIV. It is reasonable to think that this difference is due to the lack of effective therapies for HCV until a few years ago [8] .HCV is also one of the main causes of death [9] . The virus causes both liver damage and extra-hepatic manifestations, many of these syndromes are associated with the ability of HCV to replicate in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs); an example is the mixed cryoglobulinemia, which is by far the most common extrahepatic disease closely connected with the infection.Recently it was shown that antiviral treatment is associated with improved renal and cardiovascular outcomes in patients with cryoglobulinemia [4,6,10,11] . Newly approved oral anti-HCV drugs are very safe and effective, but unfortunately their cost will force to choose a priority of treatment. The intent should therefore be to identify and treat patients with a higher risk of morbidity and mortality due to HCV.The availability of these new oral treatments can definitely heal patients and ...

Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is a relatively rare type of primary liver cancer that originates in the bile duct epithelium. It is an aggressive malignancy typified by unresponsiveness to chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Despite advances in radiologic techniques and laboratory diagnostic test, the diagnosis of CCA remains highly challenging. Development in molecular techniques has led to go into the possible use of serum markers in diagnosing of cholangiocarcinoma. This review summarizes the principal characteristics of serum markers of cholangiocarcinoma. The tumour markers used frequently such as Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9), Carcinogenic Embryonic antigen (CEA), and Cancer Antigen 125 have shown sufficient sensitivity and specificity to detect and monitor CCA. In particular, the combination of these tumour markers seems to increase their efficiency in diagnosing of cholangiocarcinoma. New markers such as Soluble fragment of cytokeratin 19 (CYFRA 21-1) Mucins, Tumour Markers2- pyruvate-Kinase (TuM2- PK) and metalloproteinase-7 (MMP-7) have been recently shown to help in the diagnosis of CCA, with in some cases a prognostic value.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common type of liver cancer. The main risk factors for HCC are alcoholism, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, obesity, type 2 diabetes, cirrhosis, aflatoxin, hemochromatosis, Wilson's disease and hemophilia. Occupational exposure to chemicals is another risk factor for HCC. Often the relationship between occupational risk and HCC is unclear and the reports are fragmented and inconsistent. This review aims to summarize the current knowledge regarding the association of infective and non-infective occupational risk exposure and HCC in order to encourage further research and draw attention to this global occupational public health problem. Core tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common human cancer. This review summarizes current knowledge regarding the occupational risk factors of HCC. In particular, we underline not only the infective but also non-infective occupational risk exposure, including chemical agents and toxic metabolites which are a major cause of liver damage.