Exosome-based liquid biopsy in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma

Abstract

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) commonly presents at an advanced stage due to the lack of efficient early screening tools. Early, non-invasive biomarkers useful in the diagnosis and prognosis of HCC would be of significant benefit for HCC management. Development of exosome-based liquid biopsy as a non-invasive method for the management of HCC has gained much traction. Exosomes are small membranous vesicles secreted by most cell types including HCC cells. Exosomes serve as couriers for the intercellular transfer of important biomolecules, including, protein, nucleic acids and lipids to nearby and distant cells in the body. The molecular cargos carried by exosome have been described to play significant roles in cancer progression. Herein, we will dissect how HCC-derived exosomes confer aggressive traits such as tumour growth, invasion, immune remodelling and drug resistance to HCC cells. We review the current literature concerning exosomes as biomarkers in a diagnostic setting, evaluating their prognostic, predictive and monitoring capabilities. This review will highlight and discuss emerging research in the utility of exosome-based liquid biopsies therapeutic tools in HCC management. Here we will also focus on advances in exosome biology in preclinical studies.

The good and bad sides of exosomes: pre-metastatic niche formation, cancer biomarker and therapy carriers

“…Liquid biopsy has drawn attention as a minimally invasive and cost-effective method for sampling of genetic, proteomic and metabolic material from different types of cancer [47] . While traditional cancer liquid biopsies utilize cell free DNA or CTC [48] , Exo are emerging as a novel tool in the field of precision medicine in the early diagnostic and recurrence assessment applications [24,49] .…”