Past, present, and future of chemically induced hepatocarcinogenesis rodent models: Perspectives concerning classic and new cancer hallmarks

The Influence of Diet and Its Components on the Development and Prevention of Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is diagnosed annually in nearly a million people worldwide, with approximately half of them being diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease. Non-infectious risk factors for the development of HCC include an unbalanced lifestyle, including poor dietary choices characterized by a low intake of antioxidants, such as vitamins E and C, selenium, and polyphenols, as well as an excessive consumption of energy and harmful substances. Repeated bad dietary choices that contribute to an unbalanced lifestyle lead to the accumulation of fatty substances in the liver and to it entering an inflammatory state, which, without intervention, results in cirrhosis, the main cause of HCC. This review of the English language literature aims to present the food components that, when included in the daily diet, reduce the risk of developing HCC, as well as identifying foods that may have a carcinogenic effect on liver cells.

Insights on epithelial cells at the single-cell level in hepatocellular carcinoma prognosis and response to chemotherapy

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) originates from Epithelial cells, and epithelial lineage plasticity has become a promising research direction for advancing HCC treatment. This study aims to focus on Epithelial cells to provide target insights for detecting HCC prognosis and response to drug therapy. Methods: Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data from GSE149614 were clustered using Seurat, and the differentiation and evolution of epithelial cells were analyzed by Monocle 2. Scissor+ and Scissor- Epithelial cells associated with the prognostic phenotypes of bulk RNA-seq of HCC were screened using the Scissor algorithm for differential analysis to screen candidate genes. Candidate genes were overlapped with prognostic related genes screened by univariate Cox regression, and the Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) sparse penalty was imposed on the intersection genes to construct a risk assessment system. Results: Eight major cell subpopulations of HCC were identified, among which the proportion of epithelial cells in non-tumor liver tissues and HCC tissues was significantly different, and its proportion increased with advanced clinical stage. During the progression of HCC, the whole direction of epithelial cells differentiation trajectory was towards enhanced cell proliferation. Differential analysis between Scissor+ and Scissor- epithelial cells screened 1,265 upregulated and 191 downregulated prognostic candidate genes. Wherein, the upregulated genes were enriched in Cell processes, Genetic information processing, Metabolism and Human disease with Infection. Nevertheless, immune system related pathways took the main proportions in downregulated genes enriched pathways. There were 17 common genes between upregulated candidate genes and prognostic risk genes, of which CDC20, G6PD and PLOD2 were selected as components for constructing the risk assessment system. Risk score showed a significant correlation with tumor stage, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related pathways and 22 therapeutic drugs, and was an independent prognostic factor for HCC. Conclusion: This study revealed the cellular composition of HCC, the differentiation evolution and functional landscape of epithelial cells in the further deterioration of HCC, and established a 3-gene risk model, which was closely related to clinical features, EMT, and drug sensitivity prediction. These findings provided insights in patient prognosis and drug therapy detection for HCC.