Roles of BMI1 in the Initiation, Progression, and Treatment of Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Abstract

Liver cancer has high rates of morbidity and mortality, and its treatment is a global health challenge. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) accounts for 90% of all primary liver cancer cases. B-lymphoma Mo-MLV insertion region 1 ( BMI1) has been identified as a proto-oncogene, which contributes to the initiation and progression of many malignant tumors. BMI1 expression is upregulated in HCC, and it influences the occurrence and development of HCC by various mechanisms, such as the INK4a/ARF locus, NF-κB signaling pathway, and PTEN/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. In addition, the expression of BMI1 is related to prognosis and recurrence of HCC. Hence, there is clear evidence that BMI1 is a novel and valid therapeutic target for HCC. Accordingly, the development of therapeutic strategies targeting BMI1 has been a focus of recent research, providing new directions for HCC treatment. This review summarizes the role of BMI1 in the occurrence and treatment of HCC, which will provide a basis for using BMI1 as a potential target for the development of therapeutic strategies for HCC.

Prognostic value and potential mechanism of cellular senescence and tumor microenvironment in hepatocellular carcinoma: Insights from bulk transcriptomics and single‐cell sequencing analysis

“…G6PD has been shown to target cytochrome P450 reductase and inhibit ferroptosis in HCC 26 . BMI1 is believed to affect the progression of HCC through signaling pathways, such as NFκB, and is considered as a potential therapeutic target 27 . ASF1A has been identified as an immunotherapeutic target for Kras‐mutated tumors in various malignancies 28,29 .…”

“…26 BMI1 is believed to affect the progression of HCC through signaling pathways, such as NFκB, and is considered as a potential therapeutic target. 27 ASF1A has been identified as an immunotherapeutic target for Kras-mutated tumors in various malignancies. 28,29 These findings confirm the rationality of our Cel-lAge score.…”

Analysis of risk factors of hepatocellular carcinoma and establishment of a clinical prognosis model

“…The incidence and mortality of liver cancer continue to rise, and its treatment remains a global challenge ( 25 ). Surgery is the primary treatment of liver cancer ( 26 ).…”

The Concept of Cancer Stem Cells: Elaborating on ALDH1B1 as an Emerging Marker of Cancer Progression

“…Some of these proteins, including OCT4, MYC, KLF4, and SOX2 (Yamanaka factors), are universal, considering that they are typical of both cancer and normal stem cells and are considered essential for stem-related phenotypes [ 107 ]. The regulation of other markers, though, for instance, NANOG, BMI-1, SNAIL, ALDHs, LGR5, CXCR4, REX-1, Musashi-1, LETM1, and C-met, is considered to be dependent on both the cancer type and the specific phenotype of the CSCs that we want to analyze (e.g., drug-resistant, tumorigenic, metastatic) [ 35 , 108 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 , 115 , 116 , 117 ]. Studying the expression of specific genes both at the transcriptional and translation level, as well as the activity and localization of these proteins, is useful in assessing the enrichment of CSC properties [ 118 , 119 , 120 , 121 , 122 , 123 ].…”