Medical oncology management of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma 2019: a reality check

Liao

et al. 2021

Cancers

Liver cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the world. This mainly reflects the lack of early diagnosis tools and effective treatment methods. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of non-transcribed RNAs, some of which play important regulatory roles in liver cancer. Here, we discuss microRNAs with key impacts on liver cancer, such as miR-122, miR-21, miR-214, and miR-199. These microRNAs participate in various physiological regulatory pathways of liver cancer cells, and their modulation can have non-negligible effects in the treatment of liver cancer. We discuss whether these microRNAs can be used for better clinical diagnosis and/or drug development. With the advent of novel technologies, fast, inexpensive, and non-invasive RNA-based biomarker research has become a new mainstream approach. However, the clinical application of microRNA-based markers has been limited by the high sequence similarity among them and the potential for off-target problems. Therefore, researchers particularly value microRNAs that are specific to or have special functions in liver cancer. These include miR-122, which is specifically expressed in the liver, and miR-34, which is necessary for the replication of the hepatitis C virus in liver cancer. Clinical treatment drugs have been developed based on miR-34 and miR-122 (MRX34 and Miravirsen, respectively), but their side effects have not yet been overcome. Future research is needed to address these weaknesses and establish a feasible microRNA-based treatment strategy for liver cancer.

Section: Pathological Characteristics and Clinical Development Of Hccmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional and Clinical Significance of Dysregulated microRNAs in Liver Cancer

Liao

et al. 2021

Cancers

“…TKIs drugs can act on different kinase receptors. For example, sorafenib, which was first approved for the treatment of advanced HCC, can act on receptors such as VEGFR1-3, PDGFR-β, C-kit, RET, and PLT3, and extending the survival of patients with advanced HCC by blocking the information transmission of tumor cells, inhibiting tumor angiogenesis, promoting the normalization of tumor blood vessels ( 56 , 57 ).…”

Section: Tkismentioning

confidence: 99%

Transarterial Chemoembolization Combined With Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors for Intermediate‐Stage Hepatocellular Carcinoma, What Else Can We Do?

Deng

Wen

2022

Front. Oncol.

Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) has been considered the standard treatment for intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, intermediate‐stage HCC is highly heterogeneous with a broad population with varying tumour burdens, liver function. This suggests that TACE monotherapy treatment might not be suitable for all patients with intermediate‐stage HCC. The administration of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has become an important treatment option for improving the prognosis of patients with advanced HCC. Over the years, several trials have been conducted to explore the effects of TACE combined with TKIs for intermediate-stage HCC. However, the clinical efficacy is still controversial, and its potential clinical utility needs to be confirmed. This review will focus on the recent progress of TACE combined TKIs for intermediate-stage HCC.

“…LIHC is the most common subtype of liver cancer. Although some risk factors have been identified, including hepatitis B infection, liver cirrhosis, and alcoholic and nonalcoholic fatty liver diseases, and many approaches have been utilized in clinical practice, mainly including surgical resection, liver transplantation, chemotherapy, targeted drug treatment, and immunotherapy, the 5-year survival rate of LIHC in some developing countries is still only 18% [2][3][4]. And the minority of LIHC patients are eligible for these approaches due to high costs of treatment, serious drug adverse reactions, and multidrug resistance of tumor [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Pyroptosis-Related Gene Signature to Predict Patients’ Prognosis and Immune Landscape in Liver Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Wang

Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine

Lü

et al. 2022

Background. Liver hepatocellular carcinoma (LIHC) is a malignance with high incidence and recurrence. Pyroptosis is a programed cell death pattern which both activates the effective immune response and causes cell damage. However, their potential applications of pyroptosis-related genes (PRGs) in the prognostic evaluation and immunotherapy of LIHC are still rarely discussed. Methods. Comprehensive bioinformatics analyses based on TCGA-LIHC dataset were performed in the current study. Results. A total of 33 PRGs were selected to perform the current study. Of these 33 PRGs, 26 PRGs with upregulation or downregulation in LIHC tissues were identified. We also summarized the related genetic mutation variation landscape. GO and KEGG pathway analysis demonstrated that these 26 PRGs were primarily associated with pyroptosis, positive regulation of interleukin-1 beta production, and NOD-like receptor signaling pathway. An unfavorable OS appeared in LIHC patients with high CASP3, CASP4, CASP6, CASP8, GPX4, GSDMA, GSDME, NLRP3, NLRP7, NOD1, NOD2, PLCG1, and SCAF11 expression and low NLRP6 expression. A prognostic signature constructed by the above 14 prognostic PRGs had moderate to high accuracy to predict LIHC patients’ prognosis. And risk score was correlated with the expression of CASP6, CASP8, GPX4, GSDMA, GSDME, NLRP6, and NOD2. Of these 7 genes, CASP8 was identified as the core gene in PPI network. Moreover, lncRNA MIR17HG/hsa-miRNA-130b-3p/CASP8 regulatory axis in LIHC was also detected. Conclusions. The current study indicated the crucial role of PRGs in the prognostic evaluation of LIHC patients and their correlations with tumor microenvironment in LIHC.