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Jin X, Wang Y, Chen J, Niu M, Yang Y, Zhang Q, Bao G. Novel dual-targeting inhibitors of NSD2 and HDAC2 for the treatment of liver cancer: structure-based virtual screening, molecular dynamics simulation, and in vitro and in vivo biological activity evaluations. J Enzyme Inhib Med Chem 2024; 39:2289355. [PMID: 38059332 DOI: 10.1080/14756366.2023.2289355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Liver cancer exhibits a high degree of heterogeneity and involves intricate mechanisms. Recent research has revealed the significant role of histone lysine methylation and acetylation in the epigenetic regulation of liver cancer development. In this study, five inhibitors capable of targeting both histone lysine methyltransferase nuclear receptor-binding SET domain 2 (NSD2) and histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) were identified using a structure-based virtual screening approach. Notably, DT-NH-1 displayed a potent inhibition of NSD2 (IC50 = 0.08 ± 0.03 μM) and HDAC2 (IC50 = 5.24 ± 0.87 nM). DT-NH-1 also demonstrated a strong anti-proliferative activity against various liver cancer cell lines, particularly HepG2 cells, and exhibited a high level of biological safety. In an experimental xenograft model involving HepG2 cells, DT-NH-1 showed a significant reduction in tumour growth. Consequently, these findings indicate that DT-NH-1 will be a promising lead compound for the treatment of liver cancer with epigenetic dual-target inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xing Jin
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Yuting Wang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Jing Chen
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Miaomiao Niu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Analysis, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China
| | - Yang Yang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
| | - Qiaoxuan Zhang
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine), Guangzhou, China
- State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
| | - Guangyu Bao
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital of Yangzhou University, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
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Zheng Y, Li W, Huang Y, Cheng H. Exosomal IGFBP2 derived from highly metastatic promotes hepatocellular carcinoma metastasis by inducing epithelial mesenchymal transition. Gene 2024; 913:148374. [PMID: 38490505 DOI: 10.1016/j.gene.2024.148374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2023] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/12/2024] [Indexed: 03/17/2024]
Abstract
Liver cancer metastasis is the main cause of death in liver cancer patients. Exosomes, which are small vesicles released by cancer cells, play a crucial role in the metastasis of cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of exosomes derived from high metastatic potential liver cancer cells acting as cell to cell communication on liver cancer metastasis. Bioinformatics analysis was used to obtain the differential expression of exosomal mRNAs from the plasma of both liver cancer patients and healthy volunteers. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), and protein blot were employed to characterize the exosomes. The molecular mechanisms and were explored by conducting CCK8, Transwell, Tunel, RTqPCR, western blot, and immunofluorescence staining. We examined IGFBP2 special expression in the plasma exosomes of both liver cancer patients and healthy volunteers, and its presence was associated with a poor prognosis in liver cancer patients. Furthermore, we observed that exosomes from highly metastatic liver cancer cells (MHCC97H) contained high levels of IGFBP2 and could enhance the metastatic potential of less aggressive liver cancer cells (Hep3B). Additionally, we discovered that IGFBP2 in MHCC97H-derived exosomes activated ERK signaling pathway, which triggered epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in Hep3B cells. Our study underscores the significance of exosomal IGFBP2 from highly metastatic liver cancer cells as a driver of metastasis in less invasive liver cancer cells. This suggests that targeting IGFBP2 in exosomes could be a promising strategy for the treatment and prognosis of liver cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yongyuan Zheng
- Department of Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, PR China
| | - Weibing Li
- Department of Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, PR China
| | - Yansong Huang
- Department of Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, PR China
| | - Hongqiu Cheng
- Department of Hepatology and Infectious Diseases, the Second Affiliated Hospital, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, Guangdong, PR China.
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Elmasri RA, Rashwan AA, Gaber SH, Rostom MM, Karousi P, Yasser MB, Kontos CK, Youness RA. Puzzling out the role of MIAT LncRNA in hepatocellular carcinoma. Noncoding RNA Res 2024; 9:547-559. [PMID: 38515792 PMCID: PMC10955557 DOI: 10.1016/j.ncrna.2024.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2023] [Revised: 12/31/2023] [Accepted: 01/09/2024] [Indexed: 03/23/2024] Open
Abstract
A non-negligible part of our DNA has been proven to be transcribed into non-protein coding RNA and its intricate involvement in several physiological processes has been highly evidenced. The significant biological role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs), including long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been variously reported. In the current review, the authors highlight the multifaceted role of myocardial infarction-associated transcript (MIAT), a well-known lncRNA, in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Since its discovery, MIAT has been described as a regulator of carcinogenesis in several malignant tumors and its overexpression predicts poor prognosis in most of them. At the molecular level, MIAT is closely linked to the initiation of metastasis, invasion, cellular migration, and proliferation, as evidenced by several in-vitro and in-vivo models. Thus, MIAT is considered a possible theranostic agent and therapeutic target in several malignancies. In this review, the authors provide a comprehensive overview of the underlying molecular mechanisms of MIAT in terms of its downstream target genes, interaction with other classes of ncRNAs, and potential clinical implications as a diagnostic and/or prognostic biomarker in HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rawan Amr Elmasri
- Molecular Genetics Research Team (MGRT), Biology and Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Biotechnology, German International University (GIU), New Administrative Capital, 11835, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Alaa A. Rashwan
- Molecular Genetics Research Team (MGRT), Biology and Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Biotechnology, German International University (GIU), New Administrative Capital, 11835, Cairo, Egypt
- Biotechnology Graduate Program, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo (AUC), 11835, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Sarah Hany Gaber
- Molecular Genetics Research Team (MGRT), Biology and Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Biotechnology, German International University (GIU), New Administrative Capital, 11835, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Monica Mosaad Rostom
- Pharmacology and Toxicology Department, Faculty of Pharmacy and Biotechnology, German University in Cairo (GUC), 11835, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Paraskevi Karousi
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, 15701, Athens, Greece
| | - Montaser Bellah Yasser
- Bioinformatics Group, Center for Informatics Sciences (CIS), School of Information Technology and Computer Science (ITCS), Nile University, Giza, Egypt
| | - Christos K. Kontos
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimiopolis, 15701, Athens, Greece
| | - Rana A. Youness
- Molecular Genetics Research Team (MGRT), Biology and Biochemistry Department, Faculty of Biotechnology, German International University (GIU), New Administrative Capital, 11835, Cairo, Egypt
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Strand MS, Iannitti DA. HPB ultrasound guidance techniques - Targeting. Surg Open Sci 2024; 19:50-62. [PMID: 38585037 PMCID: PMC10995864 DOI: 10.1016/j.sopen.2024.02.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/28/2024] [Indexed: 04/09/2024] Open
Abstract
Ultrasound is an indispensable tool for intraoperative assessment and treatment of hepatopancreatobiliary pathology. As minimally invasive approaches to HPB surgery continue to expand and the benefits of parenchymal-sparing liver surgery are increasingly appreciated, skillful targeting will play an even bigger role in HPB surgical practice. Techniques for intraoperative targeting of liver lesions for the purposes of biopsy and ablation, particularly in the laparoscopic setting, are the focus of this chapter. Current evidence supports the use of ablation for a variety of liver lesions including hepatocellular carcinoma and metastatic colorectal cancer, particularly for smaller lesions. Successful targeting requires optimization of patient position and port placement. When targeting multiple lesions, thoughtful treatment sequencing is critical to maintaining visualization and optimizing outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew S. Strand
- Department of Surgery, Division of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - David A. Iannitti
- Department of Surgery, Division of Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery, Carolinas Medical Center, Charlotte, NC, USA
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Sun T, Lin Y, Yu Y, Gao S, Gao X, Zhang H, Lin K, Lin J. Low-abundance proteins-based label-free SERS approach for high precision detection of liver cancer with different stages. Anal Chim Acta 2024; 1304:342518. [PMID: 38637045 DOI: 10.1016/j.aca.2024.342518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2023] [Revised: 11/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/21/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) technology have unique advantages of rapid, simple, and highly sensitive in the detection of serum, it can be used for the detection of liver cancer. However, some protein biomarkers in body fluids are often present at ultra-low concentrations and severely interfered with by the high-abundance proteins (HAPs), which will affect the detection of specificity and accuracy in cancer screening based on the SERS immunoassay. Clearly, there is a need for an unlabeled SERS method based on low abundance proteins, which is rapid, noninvasive, and capable of high precision detection and screening of liver cancer. RESULTS Serum samples were collected from 60 patients with liver cancer (27 patients with stage T1 and T2 liver cancer, 33 patients with stage T3 and T4 liver cancer) and 40 healthy volunteers. Herein, immunoglobulin and albumin were separated by immune sorption and Cohn ethanol fractionation. Then, the low abundance protein (LAPs) was enriched, and high-quality SERS spectral signals were detected and obtained. Finally, combined with the principal component analysis-linear discriminant analysis (PCA-LDA) algorithm, the SERS spectrum of early liver cancer (T1-T2) and advanced liver cancer (T3-T4) could be well distinguished from normal people, and the accuracy rate was 98.5% and 100%, respectively. Moreover, SERS technology based on serum LAPs extraction combined with the partial least square-support vector machine (PLS-SVM) successfully realized the classification and prediction of normal volunteers and liver cancer patients with different tumor (T) stages, and the diagnostic accuracy of PLS-SVM reached 87.5% in the unknown testing set. SIGNIFICANCE The experimental results show that the serum LAPs SERS detection combined with multivariate statistical algorithms can be used for effectively distinguishing liver cancer patients from healthy volunteers, and even achieved the screening of early liver cancer with high accuracy (T1 and T2 stage). These results showed that serum LAPs SERS detection combined with a multivariate statistical diagnostic algorithm has certain application potential in early cancer screening.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tong Sun
- School of Opto-electronic and Communication Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, Fujian, 361024, China
| | - Yamin Lin
- MOE Key Laboratory of Opto Electronic Science and Technology for Medicine and Fujian Provincial Key Laboratory for Photonics Technology, Fujian Normal University, Fuzhou, Fujian, 350007, China
| | - Yun Yu
- College of Integrative Medicine, Laboratory of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Integrative Medicine on Chronic Diseases (Fujian Province University), Synthesized Laboratory of Integrative Medicine, Fujian University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Fuzhou, 350122, China.
| | - Siqi Gao
- Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Devices and Systems of Guangdong Province and the Ministry of Education, College of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, 518060, China
| | - Xingen Gao
- School of Opto-electronic and Communication Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, Fujian, 361024, China
| | - Hongyi Zhang
- School of Opto-electronic and Communication Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, Fujian, 361024, China
| | - Kecan Lin
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Mengchao Hepatobiliary Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350025, China
| | - Juqiang Lin
- School of Opto-electronic and Communication Engineering, Xiamen University of Technology, Xiamen, Fujian, 361024, China.
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Yan J, Zhang H, Zhang M, Tian M, Nie G, Xie D, Zhu X, Li X. The association between trace metals in both cancerous and non-cancerous tissues with the risk of liver and gastric cancer progression in northwest China. J Pharm Biomed Anal 2024; 242:116011. [PMID: 38359492 DOI: 10.1016/j.jpba.2024.116011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 02/03/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024]
Abstract
Liver cancer and gastric cancer have extremely high morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. It is well known that an increase or decrease in trace metals may be associated with the formation and development of a variety of diseases, including cancer. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the contents of aluminium (Al), arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), cobalt (Co), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn) in cancerous liver and gastric tissues, compared to adjacent healthy tissues, and to investigate the relationship between trace metals and cancer progression. During surgery, multiple samples were taken from the cancerous and adjacent healthy tissues of patients with liver and gastric cancer, and trace metal levels within these samples were analysed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). We found that concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Se, and Zn in tissues from patients with liver cancer were significantly lower than those in healthy controls (P < 0.05). Similarly, patients with gastric cancer also showed lower levels of Cd, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, and Zn-but higher levels of Cu and Se-compared to the controls (P < 0.05). In addition, patients with liver and gastric cancers who had poorly differentiated tumours and positive lymph node metastases showed lower levels of trace metals (P < 0.05), although no significant changes in their concentrations were observed to correlate with sex, age, or body mass index (BMI). Logistic regression, principal component analysis (PCA), Bayesian kernel regression (BKMR), weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression, and quantile-based g computing (qgcomp) models were used to analyse the relationships between trace metal concentrations in liver and gastric cancer tissues and the progression of these cancers. We found that single or mixed trace metal levels were negatively associated with poor differentiation and lymph node metastasis in both liver and gastric cancer, and the posterior inclusion probability (PIP) of each metal showed that Cd contributed the most to poor differentiation and lymph node metastasis in both liver and gastric cancer (all PIP = 1.000). These data help to clarify the relationship between changes in trace metal levels in cancerous liver and gastric tissues and the progression of these cancers. Further research is warranted, however, to fully elucidate the mechanisms and causations underlying these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun Yan
- The First School of Clinical Medical, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China; Department of General Surgery, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Regenerative Medicine of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China
| | - Honglong Zhang
- The First School of Clinical Medical, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China
| | - Mingtong Zhang
- GanSu Provincial Institute of Drug Control, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China
| | - Meng Tian
- Deyang People's Hospital, Deyang 618000, Sichuan, People's Republic of China
| | - Guole Nie
- The First School of Clinical Medical, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China
| | - Danna Xie
- The First School of Clinical Medical, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China
| | - Xingwang Zhu
- The First School of Clinical Medical, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China
| | - Xun Li
- The First School of Clinical Medical, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China; Department of General Surgery, The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Biotherapy and Regenerative Medicine of Gansu Province, Lanzhou 730000, Gansu, People's Republic of China.
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Dai C, Peng L, Li Y, Li Z, Chen D, Wang F, Lin N. Distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in blood, serum, and urine of patients with liver cancer and associations with liver function biomarkers. J Environ Sci (China) 2024; 139:418-427. [PMID: 38105065 DOI: 10.1016/j.jes.2023.05.026] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2023] [Revised: 05/16/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
Studies have shown that per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) may be hepatotoxic in animals or humans. However, data on clinical epidemiology are very limited. In this study, 21 PFASs were determined in patients with liver diseases, with the highest median concentrations detected in the serum sample (26.7 ng/mL), followed by blood (10.7 ng/mL) and urine (5.02 ng/mL). Higher total PFAS concentrations were found in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients compared to non-HCC patients, with significant discrepancies in serum and blood samples. Besides, significant correlations were also found among PFAS concentrations and age, gender, body mass index (BMI), and liver function biomarkers levels. For example, PFAS concentrations are significantly higher in males than in females; Several serum PFASs concentrations increase with age and BMI, while the serum perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) concentrations are negatively correlated with age. In addition, multiple regression models adjusted for age, gender and BMI found that increased serum perfluorobutane sulfonic acid (PFBS), perfluoroheptane sulfonic acid (PFHpS) and perfluorohexylphosphonic acid (PFHxPA) conentrations are correlated with elevated alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) (p < 0.05). Our results provide epidemiological support for the future study on the potential clinical hepatotoxicity of PFAS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cao Dai
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China
| | - Lin Peng
- School of Environment, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong 999077, China
| | - Yanjie Li
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China
| | - Zhendong Li
- South China Institute of Environmental Sciences, MEE, Guangzhou 510655, China
| | - Da Chen
- School of Environment, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
| | - Fei Wang
- School of Environment, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
| | - Nan Lin
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
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Pesonen M, Vähäkangas K. Involvement of per- and polyfluoroalkyl compounds in tumor development. Arch Toxicol 2024; 98:1241-1252. [PMID: 38478087 DOI: 10.1007/s00204-024-03685-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2023] [Accepted: 01/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a large group of synthetic persistent chemicals, which are used in many industrial and commercial applications. Hundreds of different PFAS have been identified in the environment and they are commonly found also in human blood. Due to the chemical stability and extensive use, PFAS pose a risk for human health and wildlife. Mounting evidence indicates that PFAS-exposure adversely affects many organs including liver, kidney, and reproductive tissues and induces tumors in laboratory rodents. Epidemiological studies show association between PFAS-exposure and some tumors also in humans. Effects of PFAS-exposure are complex and obviously do not depend only on the concentration and the structure of PFAS, but also on age and sex of the exposed individuals. It has been difficult to show a causal link between PFAS-exposure and tumors. Moreover, molecular mechanisms of the PFAS effects in different tissues are poorly understood. PFAS are not directly mutagenic and they do not induce formation of DNA binding metabolites, and thus are assumed to act more through non-genotoxic mechanisms. In this review, we discuss the involvement of PFAS-compounds in tumor development in tissues where PFAS exposure has been associated with cancer in epidemiological and animal studies (liver, kidney, testicle and breast). We will focus on molecular pathways and mechanisms related to tumor formation following PFAS-exposure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maija Pesonen
- Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy/Toxicology, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211, Kuopio, Finland.
| | - Kirsi Vähäkangas
- Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Pharmacy/Toxicology, University of Eastern Finland, P.O. Box 1627, 70211, Kuopio, Finland
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Wei H, Dong C, Li X. Treatment Options for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using Immunotherapy: Present and Future. J Clin Transl Hepatol 2024; 12:389-405. [PMID: 38638377 PMCID: PMC11022065 DOI: 10.14218/jcth.2023.00462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 01/25/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a common cancer, and the body's immune responses greatly affect its progression and the prognosis of patients. Immunological suppression and the maintenance of self-tolerance in the tumor microenvironment are essential responses, and these form part of the theoretical foundations of immunotherapy. In this review, we first discuss the tumor microenvironment of HCC, describe immunosuppression in HCC, and review the major biomarkers used to track HCC progression and response to treatment. We then examine antibody-based therapies, with a focus on immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), monoclonal antibodies that target key proteins in the immune response (programmed cell death protein 1, anti-cytotoxic T-lymphocyte associated protein 4, and programmed death-ligand 1) which have transformed the treatment of HCC and other cancers. ICIs may be used alone or in conjunction with various targeted therapies for patients with advanced HCC who are receiving first-line treatments or subsequent treatments. We also discuss the use of different cellular immunotherapies, including T cell receptor (TCR) T cell therapy and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. We then review the use of HCC vaccines, adjuvant immunotherapy, and oncolytic virotherapy, and describe the goals of future research in the development of treatments for HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hongbin Wei
- The First School of Clinical Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
- The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Chunlu Dong
- The First School of Clinical Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
- The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
| | - Xun Li
- The First School of Clinical Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
- The First Hospital of Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
- Key Laboratory Biotherapy and Regenerative Medicine of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
- Cancer Prevention and Treatment Center of Lanzhou University School of Medicine, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
- Hepatopancreatobiliary Surgery Institute of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
- Clinical Research Center for General Surgery of Gansu Province, Lanzhou, Gansu, China
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Liu H, Wang X, Wang L, Yin P, Liu F, Wei L, Wang Y, Zhou M, Qi J, Rao H. Mortality Burden of Liver Cancer in China: An Observational Study From 2008 to 2020. J Clin Transl Hepatol 2024; 12:371-380. [PMID: 38638380 PMCID: PMC11022066 DOI: 10.14218/jcth.2023.00455] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Revised: 02/19/2024] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Background and Aims China accounts for nearly half of liver cancer deaths globally. A better understanding of the current liver cancer mortality will be helpful to establishing priorities for intervention and to decreasing the disease burden of liver cancer. The study aimed to explore and predict the mortality burden of liver cancer in China. Methods Data were extracted from the Disease Surveillance Point system of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 2008 to 2020. Crude and age-standardized liver cancer mortality rates were reported by sex, urban or rural residence, and region. Trends in liver cancer mortality rates from 2008 to 2020 were estimated as average annual percentage change (AAPC). The changing trend of live cancer mortality in the future is also predicted. Results In 2020, the crude mortality of liver cancer was 25.57/100,000, and males and people lived in rural areas had higher age-standardized liver cancer mortality rates than females and people lived in people in urban areas. Crude mortality and age-standardized mortality rates in southwest provinces (Guangxi, Sichuan, Tibet) and in a northeast province (Heilongjiang) were higher than that in other provinces, and age-specific mortality rates increased with age. From 2008 to 2020, liver cancer mortality rates decreased, but people under 50 years of age had a higher AAPC than those over 50 years of age, possibly because of the adoption of hepatitis B virus vaccination in newborns and children. Furthermore, the mortality of liver cancer in 2021-2030 is predicted to have a downward trend. Conclusions Liver cancer mortality rates declined in China from 2008 to 2020. Future interventions to control liver cancer mortality need to focus on people of male sex, older age, and living in rural areas or less developed provinces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huixin Liu
- Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Peking University People's Hospital, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Wang
- Peking University People’s Hospital, Peking University Hepatology Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Hepatitis C and Immunotherapy for Liver Diseases, Beijing International Cooperation Base for Science and Technology on NAFLD Diagnosis, Beijing, China
| | - Lijun Wang
- National Center for Chronic Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Peng Yin
- National Center for Chronic Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Feng Liu
- Peking University People’s Hospital, Peking University Hepatology Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Hepatitis C and Immunotherapy for Liver Diseases, Beijing International Cooperation Base for Science and Technology on NAFLD Diagnosis, Beijing, China
| | - Lai Wei
- Beijing Tsinghua Changgung Hospital, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Yu Wang
- Chinese Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control, Beijing, China
| | - Maigeng Zhou
- National Center for Chronic Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Jinlei Qi
- National Center for Chronic Noncommunicable Disease Control and Prevention, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, China
| | - Huiying Rao
- Peking University People’s Hospital, Peking University Hepatology Institute, Beijing Key Laboratory of Hepatitis C and Immunotherapy for Liver Diseases, Beijing International Cooperation Base for Science and Technology on NAFLD Diagnosis, Beijing, China
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Wang G, Jiang X, Torabian P, Yang Z. Investigating autophagy and intricate cellular mechanisms in hepatocellular carcinoma: Emphasis on cell death mechanism crosstalk. Cancer Lett 2024; 588:216744. [PMID: 38431037 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2024.216744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/18/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) stands as a formidable global health challenge due to its prevalence, marked by high mortality and morbidity rates. This cancer type exhibits a multifaceted etiology, prominently linked to viral infections, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and genomic mutations. The inherent heterogeneity of HCC, coupled with its proclivity for developing drug resistance, presents formidable obstacles to effective therapeutic interventions. Autophagy, a fundamental catabolic process, plays a pivotal role in maintaining cellular homeostasis, responding to stressors such as nutrient deprivation. In the context of HCC, tumor cells exploit autophagy, either augmenting or impeding its activity, thereby influencing tumorigenesis. This comprehensive review underscores the dualistic role of autophagy in HCC, acting as both a pro-survival and pro-death mechanism, impacting the trajectory of tumorigenesis. The anti-carcinogenic potential of autophagy is evident in its ability to enhance apoptosis and ferroptosis in HCC cells. Pertinently, dysregulated autophagy fosters drug resistance in the carcinogenic context. Both genomic and epigenetic factors can regulate autophagy in HCC progression. Recognizing the paramount importance of autophagy in HCC progression, this review introduces pharmacological compounds capable of modulating autophagy-either inducing or inhibiting it, as promising avenues in HCC therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gang Wang
- Department of Interventional, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110032, PR China
| | - Xiaodi Jiang
- Department of Infectious Disease, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110020, PR China
| | - Pedram Torabian
- Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Research Institute, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 4Z6, Canada; Department of Medical Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, T2N 4Z6, Canada.
| | - Zhi Yang
- Department of General Surgery, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, 110032, PR China.
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12
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Niu C, Zhang J, Okolo PI. Liver cancer wars: plant-derived polyphenols strike back. Med Oncol 2024; 41:116. [PMID: 38625672 DOI: 10.1007/s12032-024-02353-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024]
Abstract
Liver cancer currently represents the leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. The majority of liver cancer arises in the context of chronic inflammation and cirrhosis. Surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy have been the guideline-recommended treatment options for decades. Despite enormous advances in the field of liver cancer therapy, an effective cure is yet to be found. Plant-derived polyphenols constitute a large family of phytochemicals, with pleiotropic effects and little toxicity. They can drive cellular events and modify multiple signaling pathways which involves initiation, progression and metastasis of liver cancer and play an important role in contributing to anti-liver cancer drug development. The potential of plant-derived polyphenols for treating liver cancer has gained attention from research clinicians and pharmaceutical scientists worldwide in the last decades. This review overviews hepatic carcinogenesis and briefly discusses anti-liver cancer mechanisms associated with plant-derived polyphenols, specifically involving cell proliferation, apoptosis, autophagy, angiogenesis, oxidative stress, inflammation, and metastasis. We focus on plant-derived polyphenols with experiment-based chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic properties against liver cancer and generalize their basic molecular mechanisms of action. We also discuss potential opportunities and challenges in translating plant-derived polyphenols from preclinical success into clinical applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chengu Niu
- Internal Medicine Residency Program, Rochester General Hospital, 1425 Portland Avenue, Rochester, NY, 14621, USA.
| | - Jing Zhang
- Rainier Springs Behavioral Health Hospital, 2805 NE 129th St, Vancouver, WA, 98686, USA
| | - Patrick I Okolo
- Division of Gastroenterology, Rochester General Hospital, Rochester, NY, 14621, USA
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13
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Farooq HZ, James M, Abbott J, Oyibo P, Divall P, Choudhry N, Foster GR. Risk factors for hepatocellular carcinoma associated with hepatitis C genotype 3 infection: A systematic review. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2024; 16:1596-1612. [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v16.i4.1596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Revised: 12/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/10/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a blood-borne virus which globally affects around 79 million people and is associated with high morbidity and mortality. Chronic infection leads to cirrhosis in a large proportion of patients and often causes hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in people with cirrhosis. Of the 6 HCV genotypes (G1-G6), genotype-3 accounts for 17.9% of infections. HCV genotype-3 responds least well to directly-acting antivirals and patients with genotype-3 infection are at increased risk of HCC even if they do not have cirrhosis.
AIM To systematically review and critically appraise all risk factors for HCC secondary to HCV-G3 in all settings. Consequently, we studied possible risk factors for HCC due to HCV-G3 in the literature from 1946 to 2023.
METHODS This systematic review aimed to synthesise existing and published studies of risk factors for HCC secondary to HCV genotype-3 and evaluate their strengths and limitations. We searched Web of Science, Medline, EMBASE, and CENTRAL for publications reporting risk factors for HCC due to HCV genotype-3 in all settings, 1946-2023.
RESULTS Four thousand one hundred and forty-four records were identified from the four databases with 260 records removed as duplicates. Three thousand eight hundred and eighty-four records were screened with 3514 excluded. Three hundred and seventy-one full-texts were assessed for eligibility with seven studies included for analysis. Of the seven studies, three studies were retrospective case-control trials, two retrospective cohort studies, one a prospective cohort study and one a cross-sectional study design. All were based in hospital settings with four in Pakistan, two in South Korea and one in the United States. The total number of participants were 9621 of which 167 developed HCC (1.7%). All seven studies found cirrhosis to be a risk factor for HCC secondary to HCV genotype-3 followed by higher age (five-studies), with two studies each showing male sex, high alpha feto-protein, directly-acting antivirals treatment and achievement of sustained virologic response as risk factors for developing HCC.
CONCLUSION Although, studies have shown that HCV genotype-3 infection is an independent risk factor for end-stage liver disease, HCC, and liver-related death, there is a lack of evidence for specific risk factors for HCC secondary to HCV genotype-3. Only cirrhosis and age have demonstrated an association; however, the number of studies is very small, and more research is required to investigate risk factors for HCC secondary to HCV genotype-3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamzah Z Farooq
- Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 2AT, United Kingdom
| | - Michael James
- Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 2AT, United Kingdom
| | - Jane Abbott
- Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 2AT, United Kingdom
| | - Patrick Oyibo
- School of Health and Psychological Sciences, University of London, London EC1V 0HB, United Kingdom
| | - Pip Divall
- University Hospitals of Leicester Library, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester LE3 9QP, United Kingdom
| | - Naheed Choudhry
- Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 2AT, United Kingdom
| | - Graham R Foster
- Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 2AT, United Kingdom
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Cao F, Hao W, Liang W, Zeng H, Zheng J. MiR-339-5p Inhibits Ferroptosis by Promoting Autophagic Degradation of FTH1 Through Targeting ATG7 in Liver Cancer Cells. Clin Med Insights Oncol 2024; 18:11795549241244783. [PMID: 38628842 PMCID: PMC11020741 DOI: 10.1177/11795549241244783] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/15/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Liver cancer has a high incidence and mortality rate worldwide, and there is an urgent need to identify new therapeutic strategies and predictive targets to improve the clinical outcomes of advanced liver cancer. Ferroptosis holds promise as a novel strategy for cancer therapy. Epigenetic dysregulation is a hallmark of cancer, and noncoding RNAs are tightly involved in cell fate determination. Therefore, we aimed to identify a novel ferroptosis regulator from aberrantly expressed microRNAs that may serve as a novel biomarker and therapeutic target for liver cancer. Methods The expression signature and prognostic value of miR-339 was assessed using TCGA data set. The role of miR-339/ATG7/FTH1 axis in liver cancer cells were evaluated through growth curve, colony formation, 7-AAD staining. The role of miR-339 in regulation of ferroptosis was determined by immunofluorescence staining, flow cytometry, and Elisa kits. Results Here, we showed that miR-339 is aberrantly overexpressed in patients with liver cancer. In addition, miR-339 inhibition dramatically suppresses liver cancer progression. Furthermore, miR-339 silencing drives cell death and inhibits liver cancer progression, indicating that miR-339 may serve as a novel ferroptosis suppressor. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that miR-339 targets ATG7 to facilitate the autophagic degradation of FTH1 and prevent ferroptosis in liver cancer cells. Conclusions We provide important evidence that the miR-339 inhibition activates of the autophagy pathway to promote ferroptosis by degrading FTH1 in liver cancer cells. We found that miR-339 regulates the balance between ferroptosis and autophagy in liver cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fei Cao
- Department of Interventional Therapy, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China
| | - Weiyuan Hao
- Department of Interventional Therapy, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China
| | - Weiren Liang
- Department of Interventional Therapy, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hui Zeng
- Department of Interventional Therapy, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China
| | - Jiaping Zheng
- Department of Interventional Therapy, Zhejiang Cancer Hospital, Institute of Basic Medicine and Cancer (IBMC), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hangzhou, China
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15
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Liu Y, Peng L, Li Y, Lu X, Wang F, Chen D, Lin N. Effect of liver cancer on the accumulation and hepatobiliary transport of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. J Hazard Mater 2024; 468:133743. [PMID: 38377901 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133743] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Revised: 01/30/2024] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
In this study, we examined the distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) in liver and bile tissues from the patients with liver cancer (n = 202) and healthy controls (n = 30), and calculated the hepatobiliary transport efficiency (TB-L) of PFASs. Among 21 PFASs, 13 PFASs were frequently detected in the liver (median: 8.80-16.3 ng/g) and bile (median: 11.03-14.26 ng/mL) samples. PFAS concentrations in liver were positively correlated with age, with higher levels of PFASs in the older. Variance analysis showed that gender and BMI (Body Mass Index) have an important impact on the distribution of PFASs. A U-shaped trend in TB-L of PFASs with the increasing of carbon chain length was found for the first time, and the TB-L of most PFASs in the control was higher than that of those in cases (p < 0.05), suggesting that hepatic injury would affect their transport. PFASs were positively associated with liver injury biomarkers, including γ-glutamyl transferase (GGT), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and total bilirubin (TB) levels (p < 0.05). This is the first study on examining the hepatobiliary transport characteristics of PFASs, which may help understand the connection between PFAS accumulation and liver cancer risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ying Liu
- School of Environment, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China; School of Environmental Studies, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
| | - Lin Peng
- School of Environment, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China; State Key Laboratory of Environmental and Biological Analysis, Department of Chemistry, Hong Kong Baptist University, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
| | - Yanjie Li
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China
| | - Xingwen Lu
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Institute of Environmental Health and Pollution Control, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
| | - Fei Wang
- School of Environment, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China.
| | - Da Chen
- School of Environment, Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, China
| | - Nan Lin
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510630, China.
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16
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Auriol C, Raynal P, Cantisano N. Stigmatization of drinking patients with liver cancer: The role of socioeconomic status. Heliyon 2024; 10:e29105. [PMID: 38623242 PMCID: PMC11016613 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 03/08/2024] [Accepted: 04/01/2024] [Indexed: 04/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Patients with liver cancer may face stigmatization due to cancer, alcohol consumption, or both. This study addresses gaps in the existing literature regarding stigmatization of alcohol-related liver cancer patients, particularly its connection with socioeconomic status (SES). The study explores whether the SES of a fictional character with alcohol addiction and liver cancer influences stigma levels reported by participants. Additionally, it investigates how participants' personal characteristics, such as alcohol consumption and healthcare professional status, impact stigmatization. This study aims to provide new insights regarding the role of stigmatization in liver cancer treatment and management, emphasizing in socioeconomic determinants. The method is based on three scenarios describing a woman character with alcohol abuse and liver cancer. The scenarios depicted a woman character with either low, medium or high SES. Each participant (N = 991) was randomly assigned to one of the three scenarios. After reading it, each participant answered questionnaires assessing negative attitudes towards the character. Four scales were used: "Negative attributions about people with health problems", "Causality of cancer", "Controllability of drinking" and "Reluctance to helping behavior". Data were analyzed using ANOVA and t-tests. The scenario describing a character with a low SES significantly received more "Negative attributions about people with health problems" than the character with medium or high SES. Participants having higher alcohol consumption themselves showed lower stigma scores for three out of four scales than participants with lower consumption. In addition, participants identified as health professionals had lower stigma scores regarding the scales "Negative attributions about people with health problems" and "Controllability of drinking", and higher scores for the subscale "Reluctance to helping behavior", compared with non-professionals. A character with low SES received more negative attributions than the one with higher SES. Participants' own alcohol consumption and professional status (being health professional or not), influenced their stigmatizing attitudes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Camille Auriol
- Laboratoire CERPPS, Université de Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, 5 allées Antonio Machado, 31058, Toulouse, France
| | - Patrick Raynal
- Laboratoire CERPPS, Université de Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, 5 allées Antonio Machado, 31058, Toulouse, France
| | - Nicole Cantisano
- Laboratoire CERPPS, Université de Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, 5 allées Antonio Machado, 31058, Toulouse, France
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17
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Dasí F. Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Med Clin (Barc) 2024; 162:336-342. [PMID: 37993348 DOI: 10.1016/j.medcli.2023.10.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2023] [Revised: 10/21/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/24/2023]
Abstract
Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is a rare hereditary condition caused by decreased plasma and tissue levels of alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) that can lead to serious lung and liver disease in children and adults. AATD patients face challenges such as under diagnosis, clinical variability, and limited treatment options for liver disease. Early detection and biomarkers for predicting outcomes are needed to improve patient outcome. Currently, the only approved pharmacological therapy is augmentation therapy, which can delay the progression of emphysema. However, alternative strategies such as gene therapy, induced pluripotent stem cells, and prevention of AAT polymerization inside hepatocytes are being investigated. This review aims to summarize and update current knowledge on AATD, identify areas of controversy, and formulate questions for further research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francisco Dasí
- Universitat de València, Facultad de Medicina, Departamento de Fisiología, IIS INCLIVA, Valencia, Spain.
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18
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Zhang H, Liu J. Lifestyle factors, glycemic traits, and lipoprotein traits and risk of liver cancer: a Mendelian randomization analysis. Sci Rep 2024; 14:8502. [PMID: 38605235 PMCID: PMC11009263 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59211-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2023] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 04/13/2024] Open
Abstract
The current state of knowledge on the relationship between lifestyle factors, glycemic traits, lipoprotein traits with liver cancer risk is still uncertain despite some attempts made by observational studies. This study aims to investigate the causal genetic relationship between factors highly associated with liver cancer incidence by using Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. Employing MR analysis, this study utilized previously published GWAS datasets to investigate whether lifestyle factors, glycemic traits, and lipoprotein traits would affect the risk of liver cancer. The study utilized three MR methods, including inverse variance-weighted model (IVW), MR Egger, and weighted median. Furthermore, MR-Egger analyses were performed to detect heterogeneity in the MR results. The study also conducted a leave-one-out analysis to assess the potential influence of individual SNPs on the MR analysis results. MR-PRESSO was used to identify and remove SNP outliers associated with liver cancer. MR analyses revealed that 2-h glucose (odds ratio, OR 2.33, 95% confidence interval, CI 1.28-4.21), type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM, OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.18-2.37), body mass index (BMI, OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.18-2.37), waist circumference (OR 1.78, 95% CI 1.18-2.37) were associated with increased risk of liver cancer. On the contrary, apolipoproteins B (APOB, OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.47-0.97), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL, OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.42-0.92) were negatively related to liver cancer risk. Additionally, after adjusting for BMI, apolipoproteins A-I (APOA-I, OR 0.56, 95% CI, 0.38-0.81), total cholesterol (TC, OR 0.72, 95% CI, 0.54-0.94), and total triglycerides (TG, OR 0.57, 95% CI, 0.40-0.78) exhibited a significant inverse correlation with the risk of liver cancer. This study supports a causal relationship between 2-h glucose, T2DM, BMI, and waist circumference with the increased risk of liver cancer. Conversely, the study reveals a cause-effect relationship between TC, TG, LDL, APOA-I, and APOB with a decreased risk of liver cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Honglu Zhang
- Department of Pharmacy, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China
- Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiyong Liu
- Department of Pharmacy, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Shanghai, China.
- Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
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Chen T, Ruan Y, Ji L, Cai J, Tong M, Xue Y, Zhao H, Cai X, Xu J. S100A6 drives lymphatic metastasis of liver cancer via activation of the RAGE/NF-kB/VEGF-D pathway. Cancer Lett 2024; 587:216709. [PMID: 38350547 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2024.216709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2024] [Accepted: 02/06/2024] [Indexed: 02/15/2024]
Abstract
Patients diagnosed with lymph node (LN) metastatic liver cancer face an exceedingly grim prognosis. In-depth analysis of LN metastatic patients' characteristics and tumor cells' interactions with human lymphatic endothelial cells (HLECs), can provide important biological and therapeutic insights. Here we identify at the single-cell level that S100A6 expression differs between primary tumor and their LN metastasis. Of particular significance, we uncovered the disparity in S100A6 expression between tumors and normal tissues is greater in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) patients, frequently accompanied by LN metastases, than that in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), with rare occurrence of LN metastasis. Furthermore, in the infrequent instances of LN metastasis in HCC, heightened S100A6 expression was observed, suggesting a critical role of S100A6 in the process of LN metastasis. Subsequent experiments further uncovered that S100A6 secreted from tumor cells promotes lymphangiogenesis by upregulating the expression and secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor-D (VEGF-D) in HLECs through the RAGE/NF-kB/VEGF-D pathway while overexpression of S100A6 in tumor cells also augmented their migration and invasion. Taken together, these data reveal the dual effects of S100A6 in promoting LN metastasis in liver cancer, thus highlighting its potential as a promising therapeutic target.
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Affiliation(s)
- TianYi Chen
- Key Laboratory of Laparoscopic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Department of General Surgery, Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Minimal Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Research Center of Severe Hepatobiliary Disease, Zhejiang Research and Development Engineering Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Technology and Equipment, Hangzhou, China
| | - YeLing Ruan
- Key Laboratory of Laparoscopic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Department of General Surgery, Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Minimal Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Research Center of Severe Hepatobiliary Disease, Zhejiang Research and Development Engineering Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Technology and Equipment, Hangzhou, China
| | - Lin Ji
- Key Laboratory of Laparoscopic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Department of General Surgery, Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Minimal Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Research Center of Severe Hepatobiliary Disease, Zhejiang Research and Development Engineering Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Technology and Equipment, Hangzhou, China
| | - JingWei Cai
- Key Laboratory of Laparoscopic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Department of General Surgery, Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Minimal Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Research Center of Severe Hepatobiliary Disease, Zhejiang Research and Development Engineering Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Technology and Equipment, Hangzhou, China
| | - Meng Tong
- Key Laboratory of Laparoscopic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Department of General Surgery, Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Minimal Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Research Center of Severe Hepatobiliary Disease, Zhejiang Research and Development Engineering Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Technology and Equipment, Hangzhou, China
| | - YangTao Xue
- Key Laboratory of Laparoscopic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Department of General Surgery, Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Minimal Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Research Center of Severe Hepatobiliary Disease, Zhejiang Research and Development Engineering Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Technology and Equipment, Hangzhou, China
| | - Hu Zhao
- Key Laboratory of Laparoscopic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Department of General Surgery, Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Minimal Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Research Center of Severe Hepatobiliary Disease, Zhejiang Research and Development Engineering Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Technology and Equipment, Hangzhou, China
| | - XiuJun Cai
- Key Laboratory of Laparoscopic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Department of General Surgery, Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Minimal Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Research Center of Severe Hepatobiliary Disease, Zhejiang Research and Development Engineering Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Technology and Equipment, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang University Cancer Center, Hangzhou, China; Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University Medical Center, Hangzhou, China.
| | - JunJie Xu
- Key Laboratory of Laparoscopic Technology of Zhejiang Province, Department of General Surgery, Sir Run-Run Shaw Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang Minimal Invasive Diagnosis and Treatment Technology Research Center of Severe Hepatobiliary Disease, Zhejiang Research and Development Engineering Laboratory of Minimally Invasive Technology and Equipment, Hangzhou, China; Zhejiang University Cancer Center, Hangzhou, China; Liangzhu Laboratory, Zhejiang University Medical Center, Hangzhou, China.
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20
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Yang Y, Yu S, Lv C, Tian Y. NETosis in tumour microenvironment of liver: From primary to metastatic hepatic carcinoma. Ageing Res Rev 2024; 97:102297. [PMID: 38599524 DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2024.102297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2024] [Revised: 03/23/2024] [Accepted: 04/03/2024] [Indexed: 04/12/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hepatocellular carcinoma is a common and highly lethal tumour. The tumour microenvironment (TME) plays an important role in the progression and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). A cell death mechanism, termed NETosis, has been found to play an important role in the TME of HCC. SUMMARY This review article focuses on the role of NETosis in the TME of HCC, a novel form of cell death in which neutrophils capture and kill microorganisms by releasing a type of DNA meshwork fibres called "NETs". This process is associated with neutrophil activation, local inflammation and cytokines. The study suggests that NETs play a multifaceted role in the development and metastasis of HCC. The article also discusses the role of NETs in tumour proliferation and metastasis, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and surgical stress. In addition, the article discusses the interaction of NETosis with other immune cells in the TME and related therapeutic strategies. A deeper understanding of NETosis can help us better understand the complexity of the immune system and provide a new therapeutic basis for the treatment and prevention of HCC. KEY INFORMATION In conclusion, NETosis is important in the TME of liver. NETs have been shown to contribute to the progression and metastasis of liver cancer. The interaction between NETosis and immune cells in the TME, as well as related therapies, are important areas of research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Yang
- Department of General Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110004, China
| | - Siyue Yu
- Department of General Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110004, China
| | - Chao Lv
- Department of General Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110004, China
| | - Yu Tian
- Department of General Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning 110004, China.
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Ma X, Fisher JA, McGlynn KA, Liao LM, Vasiliou V, Sun N, Kaufman JD, Silverman DT, Jones RR. Long-term exposure to ambient fine particulate matter and risk of liver cancer in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study. Environ Int 2024; 187:108637. [PMID: 38636274 DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2024.108637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2023] [Revised: 03/18/2024] [Accepted: 04/04/2024] [Indexed: 04/20/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure has been associated with liver cancer incidence and mortality in a limited number of studies. We sought to evaluate this relationship for the first time in a U.S. cohort with historical exposure assessment. METHODS We used spatiotemporal prediction models to estimate annual average historical PM2.5 concentrations (1980-2015) at residential addresses of 499,729 participants in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study, a cohort in 6 states (California, Florida, Louisiana, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania) and 2 metropolitan areas (Atlanta, Georgia, and Detroit, Michigan) enrolled in 1995-1996 and followed up through 2017. We used a time-varying Cox model to estimate the association for liver cancer and the predominant histologic type, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), per 5 µg/m3 increase in estimated outdoor PM2.5 levels, incorporating a 5-year average, lagged 10 years prior to cancer diagnosis and adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education level and catchment state. We also evaluated PM2.5 interactions with hypothesized effect modifiers. RESULTS We observed a non-significantly increased risk of liver cancer associated with estimated PM2.5 exposure (Hazard ratio [HR] = 1.05 [0.96-1.14], N = 1,625); associations were slightly stronger for HCC, (84 % of cases; HR = 1.08 [0.98-1.18]). Participants aged 70 or older at enrollment had an increased risk of liver cancer versus other age groups (HR = 1.50 [1.01-2.23]); p-interaction = 0.01) and risk was elevated among participants who did not exercise (HR = 1.81 [1.22-2.70]; p-interaction = 0.01). We found no evidence of effect modification by sex, smoking status, body mass index, diabetes status, or alcohol consumption (p-interaction > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Our findings in this large cohort suggest that residential ambient PM2.5 levels may be associated with liver cancer risk. Further exploration of the variation in associations by age and physical activity are important areas for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiuqi Ma
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Jared A Fisher
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Katherine A McGlynn
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Linda M Liao
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Vasilis Vasiliou
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Ning Sun
- Department of Biostatistics, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA
| | - Joel D Kaufman
- Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Debra T Silverman
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Rena R Jones
- Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, MD, USA; Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, CT, USA.
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22
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Cheng SYH, Hsu YC, Cheng SP. An ecological analysis of associations between ambient air pollution and cancer incidence rates in Taiwan. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int 2024:10.1007/s11356-024-33145-9. [PMID: 38565820 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-024-33145-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/10/2023] [Accepted: 03/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Air pollution is deemed a human carcinogen and can be linked to certain types of cancer other than lung cancer. The present study aimed to investigate the pollutant-cancer associations in a population-level cohort. We obtained the annual age-standardized incidence rates of 28 different cancer types between 2015 to 2019 from the Taiwan Cancer Registry. Outdoor concentrations of particulate matter with a diameter of 10 μm or less (PM10), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ground-level ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO) between 2001 to 2010 were retrieved from the Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring Network. Weighted quantile sum (WQS) regression models were used to determine the combined effects of five air pollutants on the relationship to cancer incidence rates after controlling for sex ratio, age, average disposable income per household, overweight/obesity prevalence, current smoking rate, and drinking rate. Trend analyses showed that NO2 and CO concentrations tended to decrease, while SO2 concentrations increased in some counties. WQS regression analyses revealed significantly positive correlations between air pollutants and liver cancer, lung and tracheal cancer, colorectal cancer, thyroid cancer, kidney cancer, and small intestine cancer. Altogether, the results from this ecological study unravel that exposure to ambient air pollution is associated with the incidence of several non-lung cancer types.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yi-Chiung Hsu
- Department of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
- Center for Astronautical Physics and Engineering, National Central University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan
| | - Shih-Ping Cheng
- Department of Surgery, MacKay Memorial Hospital and MacKay Medical College, Taipei, Taiwan.
- Institute of Biomedical Sciences, MacKay Medical College, New Taipei City, Taiwan.
- Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.
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23
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Lin TY, Su TH. Progression of portal hypertension after atezolizumab plus bevacizumab for hepatocellular carcinoma-report a case and literature review. J Formos Med Assoc 2024:S0929-6646(24)00180-3. [PMID: 38565487 DOI: 10.1016/j.jfma.2024.03.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2024] [Revised: 03/20/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Atezolizumab/bevacizumab combination therapy became the first-line therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Gastroesophageal varices should be monitored and managed before treatment. The progression of portal hypertension during bevacizumab-containing therapy is unclear. METHOD A case of new development of esophageal varices, ascites, and hepatic hydrothorax during atezolizumab/bevacizumab therapy at National Taiwan University Hospital was reported, and relevant literature was reviewed. RESULTS We presented an 83-year-old male with resolved hepatitis B without cirrhosis. He had BCLC stage C HCC and received tri-weekly atezolizumab/bevacizumab therapy for 34 cycles with sustained partial response. Progressive ascites, esophageal varices, and hepatic hydrothorax developed, though his portal vein was patent and the tumor was under control. Five similar cases of HCC (BCLC B/C: n = 3/2) had been reported previously. Among them, three had cirrhosis with pre-existing small esophageal varices before treatment. After the administration of 1-15 cycles of atezolizumab/bevacizumab therapy, one patient had a progression of varices, and the other four developed variceal bleeding. The association between atezolizumab/bevacizumab and portal hypertension was possible, which might relate to the VEGF pathway and immune-related adverse events with progressive hepatic fibrosis. CONCLUSION Atezolizumab/bevacizumab treatment might exacerbate portal hypertension. Careful monitoring and management should be considered during treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tung-Yen Lin
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Tung-Hung Su
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Internal Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan; Hepatitis Research Center, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
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24
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Sogbe M, Bilbao I, Marchese FP, Zazpe J, De Vito A, Pozuelo M, D’Avola D, Iñarrairaegui M, Berasain C, Arechederra M, Argemi J, Sangro B. Prognostic value of ultra-low-pass whole-genome sequencing of circulating tumor DNA in hepatocellular carcinoma under systemic treatment. Clin Mol Hepatol 2024; 30:177-190. [PMID: 38163441 PMCID: PMC11016491 DOI: 10.3350/cmh.2023.0426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/27/2023] [Indexed: 01/03/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND/AIMS New prognostic markers are needed to identify patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) who carry a worse prognosis. Ultra-low-pass whole-genome sequencing (ULP-WGS) (≤0.5× coverage) of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) has emerged as a low-cost promising tool to assess both circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) fraction and large structural genomic alterations. Here, we studied the performance of ULP-WGS of plasma cfDNA to infer prognosis in patients with HCC. METHODS Plasma samples were obtained from patients with HCC prior to surgery, locoregional or systemic therapy, and were analyzed by ULP-WGS of cfDNA to an average genome-wide fold coverage of 0.3x. ctDNA and copy number alterations (CNA) were estimated using the software package ichorCNA. RESULTS Samples were obtained from 73 HCC patients at different BCLC stages (BCLC 0/A: n=37, 50.7%; BCLC B/C: n=36, 49.3%). ctDNA was detected in 18 out of 31 patients who received systemic treatment. Patients with detectable ctDNA showed significantly worse overall survival (median, 13.96 months vs not reached). ctDNA remained an independent predictor of prognosis after adjustment by clinical-pathologic features and type of systemic treatment (hazard ratio 7.69; 95%, CI 2.09-28.27). Among ctDNA-positive patients under systemic treatments, the loss of large genomic regions in 5q and 16q arms was associated with worse prognosis after multivariate analysis. CONCLUSION ULP-WGS of cfDNA provides clinically relevant information about the tumor biology. The presence of ctDNA and the loss of 5q and 16q arms in ctDNA-positive patients are independent predictors of worse prognosis in patients with advanced HCC receiving systemic therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Sogbe
- Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Liver Unit, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Idoia Bilbao
- Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Liver Unit, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Francesco P. Marchese
- University of Navarra, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), Computational Biology and Translational Genomics Program, Pamplona, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Jon Zazpe
- University of Navarra, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), Computational Biology and Translational Genomics Program, Pamplona, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Annarosaria De Vito
- University of Navarra, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), Computational Biology and Translational Genomics Program, Pamplona, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Marta Pozuelo
- University of Navarra, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), Computational Biology and Translational Genomics Program, Pamplona, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Delia D’Avola
- Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Internal Medicine Department, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Mercedes Iñarrairaegui
- Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Liver Unit, Pamplona, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Pamplona, Spain
| | - Carmen Berasain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Pamplona, Spain
- University of Navarra, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), Hepatology Laboratory, Solid Tumors Program, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Maria Arechederra
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Pamplona, Spain
- University of Navarra, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), Hepatology Laboratory, Solid Tumors Program, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Josepmaria Argemi
- Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Liver Unit, Pamplona, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Pamplona, Spain
- University of Navarra, Center for Applied Medical Research (CIMA), Hepatology Laboratory, Solid Tumors Program, Pamplona, Spain
| | - Bruno Sangro
- Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Liver Unit, Pamplona, Spain
- Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Navarra (IdiSNA), Pamplona, Spain
- Clinica Universidad de Navarra, Liver Unit, Madrid, Spain
- Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBEREHD), Pamplona, Spain
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25
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Santagata S, Rea G, Castaldo D, Napolitano M, Capiluongo A, D'Alterio C, Trotta AM, Ieranò C, Portella L, Di Maro S, Tatangelo F, Albino V, Guarino R, Cutolo C, Izzo F, Scala S. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tumor microenvironment is more suppressive than colorectal cancer liver metastasis (CRLM) tumor microenvironment. Hepatol Int 2024; 18:568-581. [PMID: 37142825 PMCID: PMC11014815 DOI: 10.1007/s12072-023-10537-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2022] [Accepted: 04/08/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE While HCC is an inflammation-associated cancer, CRLM develops on permissive healthy liver microenvironment. To evaluate the immune aspects of these two different environments, peripheral blood-(PB), peritumoral-(PT) and tumoral tissues-(TT) from HCC and CRLM patients were evaluated. METHODS 40 HCC and 34 CRLM were enrolled and freshly TT, PT and PB were collected at the surgery. PB-, PT- and TT-derived CD4+CD25+ Tregs, M/PMN-MDSC and PB-derived CD4+CD25- T-effector cells (Teffs) were isolated and characterized. Tregs' function was also evaluated in the presence of the CXCR4 inhibitor, peptide-R29, AMD3100 or anti-PD1. RNA was extracted from PB/PT/TT tissues and tested for FOXP3, CXCL12, CXCR4, CCL5, IL-15, CXCL5, Arg-1, N-cad, Vim, CXCL8, TGFβ and VEGF-A expression. RESULTS In HCC/CRLM-PB, higher number of functional Tregs, CD4+CD25hiFOXP3+ was detected, although PB-HCC Tregs exert a more suppressive function as compared to CRLM Tregs. In HCC/CRLM-TT, Tregs were highly represented with activated/ENTPD-1+Tregs prevalent in HCC. As compared to CRLM, HCC overexpressed CXCR4 and N-cadherin/vimentin in a contest rich in arginase and CCL5. Monocytic MDSCs were highly represented in HCC/CRLM, while high polymorphonuclear MDSCs were detected only in HCC. Interestingly, the function of CXCR4-PB-Tregs was impaired in HCC/CRLM by the CXCR4 inhibitor R29. CONCLUSION In HCC and CRLM, peripheral blood, peritumoral and tumoral tissues Tregs are highly represented and functional. Nevertheless, HCC displays a more immunosuppressive TME due to Tregs, MDSCs, intrinsic tumor features (CXCR4, CCL5, arginase) and the contest in which it develops. As CXCR4 is overexpressed in HCC/CRLM tumor/TME cells, CXCR4 inhibitors may be considered for double hit therapy in liver cancer patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara Santagata
- Microenvironment Molecular Targets, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Giuseppina Rea
- Microenvironment Molecular Targets, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Daniela Castaldo
- Microenvironment Molecular Targets, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Maria Napolitano
- Microenvironment Molecular Targets, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Anna Capiluongo
- Microenvironment Molecular Targets, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Crescenzo D'Alterio
- Microenvironment Molecular Targets, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Anna Maria Trotta
- Microenvironment Molecular Targets, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Caterina Ieranò
- Microenvironment Molecular Targets, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Luigi Portella
- Microenvironment Molecular Targets, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Salvatore Di Maro
- Department of Environmental, Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technologies, University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli", Via Vivaldi 43, 81100, Caserta, Italy
| | - Fabiana Tatangelo
- Pathology, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Vittorio Albino
- Divisions of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Rita Guarino
- Divisions of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Carmen Cutolo
- Divisions of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Francesco Izzo
- Divisions of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Stefania Scala
- Microenvironment Molecular Targets, Istituto Nazionale Tumori-IRCCS-Fondazione "G. Pascale", Via Semmola, 80131, Naples, Italy.
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26
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Wang F, Xu WQ, Zhang WQ, Xu RC, Sun JL, Zhang GC, Liu ZY, Qi ZR, Dong L, Weng SQ, Shen XZ, Liu TT, Fang Y, Zhu JM. Transferrin receptor 1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma progression and metastasis by activating the mTOR signaling pathway. Hepatol Int 2024; 18:636-650. [PMID: 37982952 DOI: 10.1007/s12072-023-10607-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/09/2023] [Indexed: 11/21/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Aberrant iron metabolism is commonly observed in multiple tumor types, including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, as the key regulator of iron metabolism involved in iron absorption, the role of transferrin receptor (TFRC) in HCC remains elusive. METHODS The mRNA and protein expression of TFRC were evaluated in paired HCC and adjacent non-tumor specimens. The correlation between TFRC level and clinicopathological features or prognostic significance was also analyzed. The role of TFRC on biological functions was finally studied in vitro and in vivo. RESULTS The TFRC level was remarkably upregulated in HCC tissues compared to paired peritumor tissues. Overexpressed TFRC positively correlated with serum alpha-fetoprotein, carcinoembryonic antigen, and poor tumor differentiation. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that upregulated TFRC was an independent predictive marker for poorer overall survival and disease-free survival in HCC patients. Loss of TFRC markedly impaired cell proliferation and migration in vitro and notably suppressed HCC growth and metastasis in vivo, while overexpression of TFRC performed an opposite effect. Mechanistically, the mTOR signaling pathway was downregulated with TFRC knockdown, and the mTOR agonist MHY1485 completely reversed the biological inhibition in HCC cells caused by TFRC knockdown. Furthermore, exogenous ferric citrate (FAC) or iron chelator reversed the changed biological functions and signaling pathway expression of HCC cells caused by TFRC knockdown or overexpression, respectively. CONCLUSIONS Our study indicates that TFRC exerts an oncogenic role in HCC and may become a promising therapeutic target to restrain HCC progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fu Wang
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Wei-Qi Xu
- Department of Hepatic Surgery, Shanghai Cancer Center, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wan-Qin Zhang
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Ru-Chen Xu
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Jia-Lei Sun
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Guang-Cong Zhang
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Zhi-Yong Liu
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Zhuo-Ran Qi
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Ling Dong
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Shu-Qiang Weng
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Xi-Zhong Shen
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
- Key Laboratory of Medical Molecular Virology, Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University, 138 Yixueyuan Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Tao-Tao Liu
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China
| | - Ying Fang
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China.
| | - Ji-Min Zhu
- Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Shanghai Institute of Liver Diseases, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University, 180 Fenglin Rd., Shanghai, 200032, China.
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27
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Slowly M, Domingo-Relloso A, Santella RM, Haack K, Fallin DM, Terry MB, Rhoades DA, Herreros-Martinez M, Garcia-Esquinas E, Cole SA, Tellez-Plaza M, Navas-Acien A, Wu HC. Blood DNA methylation and liver cancer in American Indians: evidence from the Strong Heart Study. Cancer Causes Control 2024; 35:661-669. [PMID: 38010586 PMCID: PMC10960679 DOI: 10.1007/s10552-023-01822-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2023] [Accepted: 10/30/2023] [Indexed: 11/29/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Liver cancer incidence among American Indians/Alaska Natives has risen over the past 20 years. Peripheral blood DNA methylation may be associated with liver cancer and could be used as a biomarker for cancer risk. We evaluated the association of blood DNA methylation with risk of liver cancer. METHODS We conducted a prospective cohort study in 2324 American Indians, between age 45 and 75 years, from Arizona, Oklahoma, North Dakota and South Dakota who participated in the Strong Heart Study between 1989 and 1991. Liver cancer deaths (n = 21) were ascertained using death certificates obtained through 2017. The mean follow-up duration (SD) for non-cases was 25.1 (5.6) years and for cases, 11.0 (8.8) years. DNA methylation was assessed from blood samples collected at baseline using MethylationEPIC BeadChip 850 K arrays. We used Cox regression models adjusted for age, sex, center, body mass index, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, smoking, alcohol consumption, and immune cell proportions to examine the associations. RESULTS We identified 9 CpG sites associated with liver cancer. cg16057201 annotated to MRFAP1) was hypermethylated among cases vs. non-cases (hazard ratio (HR) for one standard deviation increase in methylation was 1.25 (95% CI 1.14, 1.37). The other eight CpGs were hypomethylated and the corresponding HRs (95% CI) ranged from 0.58 (0.44, 0.75) for cg04967787 (annotated to PPRC1) to 0.77 (0.67, 0.88) for cg08550308. We also assessed 7 differentially methylated CpG sites associated with liver cancer in previous studies. The adjusted HR for cg15079934 (annotated to LPS1) was 1.93 (95% CI 1.10, 3.39). CONCLUSIONS Blood DNA methylation may be associated with liver cancer mortality and may be altered during the development of liver cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monique Slowly
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, USA
| | - Arce Domingo-Relloso
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, USA
- Department of Chronic Diseases Epidemiology, National Center for Epidemiology, Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain
- Department of Statistics and Operations Research, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain
| | - Regina M Santella
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, USA
- Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Karin Haack
- Population Health Program, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Daniele M Fallin
- Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Mary Beth Terry
- Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
| | - Dorothy A Rhoades
- Department of Medicine, Stephenson Cancer Center, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences, Oklahoma City, OK, USA
| | | | - Esther Garcia-Esquinas
- Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
- CIBERESP (CIBER of Epidemiology and Public Health), Madrid, Spain
| | - Shelley A Cole
- Population Health Program, Texas Biomedical Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Maria Tellez-Plaza
- Department of Chronic Diseases Epidemiology, National Center for Epidemiology, Carlos III Health Institute, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ana Navas-Acien
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, USA
| | - Hui-Chen Wu
- Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, USA.
- Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.
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Wang K, Wu J, Yang Z, Zheng B, Shen S, Wang RR, Zhang Y, Wang HY, Chen L, Qiu X. Hyperactivation of β-catenin signal in hepatocellular carcinoma recruits myeloid-derived suppressor cells through PF4-CXCR3 axis. Cancer Lett 2024; 586:216690. [PMID: 38307410 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2024.216690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2023] [Revised: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/04/2024]
Abstract
The high mutation rate of CTNNB1 (37 %) and Wnt-β-catenin signal-associated genes (54 %) has been notified in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The activation of Wnt-β-catenin signal pathway was reported to be associated with an immune "desert" phenotype, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. Here we mainly employed orthotopic HCC models to explore on it. Mass cytometry depicted the immune contexture of orthotopic HCC syngeneic grafts, unveiling that the exogenous expression of β-catenin significantly increased the percentage of myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and decreased the percentage of CD8+ T-cells. Flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry further confirmed the findings. The protein microarray analysis, Western blot and PCR identified PF4 as its downstream regulating cytokine. Intratumorally injection of cytokine PF4 enhanced the accumulation of MDSCs. Knockout of PF4 abolished the effect of β-catenin on recruiting MDSCs. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that β-catenin increases the mRNA level of PF4 via binding to PF4's promoter region. In vitro chemotaxis assay and in vivo administration of specific inhibitors identified CXCR3 on MDSCs as receptor for recruiting PF4. Lastly, the significant correlations across β-catenin, PF4 and MDSCs and CD8+ T-cells infiltration were verified in HCC clinical samples. Our results unveiled HCC tumor cell intrinsic hyperactivation of β-catenin can recruit MDSC through PF4-CXCR3, which contributes to the formation of immune "desert" phenotype. Our study provided new insights into the development of immunotherapeutic strategy of HCC with CTNNB1 mutation. SIGNIFICANCE: This study identifies PF4-CXCR3-MDSCs as a downstream mechanism underlying CTNNB1 mutation associated immune "desert" phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaiting Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Institute of Metabolism and Integrative Biology, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Jianmin Wu
- Institute of Metabolism and Integrative Biology, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Zhao Yang
- Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Bo Zheng
- The International Cooperation Laboratory on Signal Transduction, National Center for Liver Cancer, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200438, China; National Center for Liver Cancer, Shanghai, 200441, China
| | - Siyun Shen
- The International Cooperation Laboratory on Signal Transduction, National Center for Liver Cancer, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200438, China; National Center for Liver Cancer, Shanghai, 200441, China
| | - Rui-Ru Wang
- Berry Oncology Corporation, Digital Fujian Park, Fuzhou, China
| | - Yani Zhang
- Institute of Metabolism and Integrative Biology, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200438, China
| | - Hong-Yang Wang
- The International Cooperation Laboratory on Signal Transduction, National Center for Liver Cancer, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200438, China; National Center for Liver Cancer, Shanghai, 200441, China; Key Laboratory of Signaling Regulation and Targeting Therapy of Liver Cancer (SMMU), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, 200438, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Hepatobiliary Tumor Biology (EHBH), Shanghai, 200438, China.
| | - Lei Chen
- The International Cooperation Laboratory on Signal Transduction, National Center for Liver Cancer, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, 200438, China; Key Laboratory of Signaling Regulation and Targeting Therapy of Liver Cancer (SMMU), Ministry of Education, Shanghai, 200438, China; Shanghai Key Laboratory of Hepatobiliary Tumor Biology (EHBH), Shanghai, 200438, China; Department of Cancer Institute, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
| | - Xinyao Qiu
- Department of Cancer Institute, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center, Department of Oncology, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200032, China.
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Yang X, Meng D, Jiang N, Wang C, Zhang J, Hu Y, Lun J, Jia R, Zhang X, Sun W. Curcumin-loaded pH-sensitive carboxymethyl chitosan nanoparticles for the treatment of liver cancer. J Biomater Sci Polym Ed 2024; 35:628-656. [PMID: 38284334 DOI: 10.1080/09205063.2024.2304949] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 11/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
In this study, the pH-responsive API-CMCS-SA (ACS) polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) based on 1-(3-amino-propyl) imidazole (API), stearic acid (SA), and carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS) were fabricated for the effective transport of curcumin (CUR) in liver cancer. CUR-ACS-NPs with various degrees of substitution (DS) were employed to prepare through ultrasonic dispersion method. The effect of different DS on NPs formation was discussed. The obtained CUR-ACS-NPs (DSSA=12.4%) had high encapsulation rate (more than 85%) and uniform particle size (186.2 ± 1.42 nm). The CUR-ACS-NPs showed better stability than the other groups. Drug release from the CUR-ACS-NPs was pH-dependent, and more than 90% or 65% of CUR was released in 48 h in weakly acid medium (pH 5.0 or 6.0, respectively). Additionally, the CUR-ACS-NPs increased the intracellular accumulation of CUR and demonstrated high anticancer effect on HepG2 cells compared with the other groups. CUR-ACS-NPs prolonged the retention time of the drug, and the area under the curve (AUC) increased significantly in vivo. The in vivo antitumor study further revealed that the CUR-ACS-NPs exhibited the capability of inhibiting tumor growth and lower systemic toxicity. Meanwhile, CUR, CUR-CS-NPs, and CUR-ACS-NPs could be detected in the evaluated organs, including tumor, liver, spleen, lung, heart, and kidney in distribution studies. Among them, CUR-ACS-NPs reached the maximum concentration at the tumor site, indicating the tumor-targeting properties. In short, the results suggested that CUR-ACS-NPs could act a prospective drug transport system for effective delivery of CUR in cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyu Yang
- College of Pharmacy, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
| | - Dongdong Meng
- College of Pharmacy, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
| | - Ning Jiang
- College of Pharmacy, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
| | - Chaoxing Wang
- College of Pharmacy, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
| | - Jinbo Zhang
- College of Pharmacy, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
| | - Yanqiu Hu
- College of Pharmacy, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
| | - Jiaming Lun
- College of Pharmacy, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
| | - Rui Jia
- College of Pharmacy, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
| | - Xueyun Zhang
- College of Pharmacy, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
| | - Weitong Sun
- College of Pharmacy, Jiamusi University, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
- Heilongjiang Provincial Key Laboratory of New Drug Development and Pharmacotoxicological Evaluation, Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 154007, PR China
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Guo Z, Wang Y, Qin W, Heng Y, Chen X, Liu N, Li J, Wu H, Zhou Y, Zhang R, Song S, Wu Z. miR-122-3p targets UBE2I to regulate the immunosuppression of liver cancer and the intervention of Liujunzi formula. J Ethnopharmacol 2024; 329:118081. [PMID: 38570148 DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2024.118081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2024] [Revised: 03/11/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/05/2024]
Abstract
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE Liujunzi formula has been used to treat liver cancer in China for many years, but its underlying mechanism remains unclear. We previously found that decreased expression of miR-122-3p was associated with liver cancer. In this study, we aimed to explore the target of miR-122-3p and the effect of the Liujunzi formula on miR-122-3p and its downstream events in liver cancer. MATERIAL AND METHODS Bioinformatics pinpointed potential targets of miR-122-3p. The actual target was confirmed by miRNA mimic/inhibitor transfections and a dual-luciferase reporter assay. RNA-seq looked at downstream genes impacted by this target. Flow cytometry checked for changes in T cell apoptosis levels after exposing them to liver cancer cells. Gene expression was measured by RT-qPCR, western blotting, and immunofluorescence staining. RESULTS Cell experiments found the Liujunzi extract (LJZ) upregulated miR-122-3p and in a dose-dependent manner. Bioinformatics analysis found UBE2I was a potential target of miR-122-3p, which was validated through experiments using miRNA mimics/inhibitors and a dual-luciferase reporter assay. RNA-seq data implicated the NF-κB pathway as being downstream of the miR-122-3p/UBE2I axis, further confirmed by forcing overexpression of UBE2I. Bioinformatic evidence suggested a link between UBE2I and T cell infiltration in liver cancer. Given that the NF-κB pathway drives PD-L1 expression, which can inhibit T cell infiltration, we investigated whether PD-L1 is a downstream effector of miR-122-3p/UBE2I. This was corroborated through mining public databases, UBE2I overexpression studies, and tumor-T cell co-culture assays. In addition, we also confirmed that LJZ downregulates UBE2I and NF-κB/PD-L1 pathways through miR-122-3p. LJZ also suppressed SUMOylation in liver cancer cells and protected PD-1+ T cells from apoptosis induced by co-culture with tumor cells. Strikingly, a miR-122-3p inhibitor abrogated LJZ's effects on UBE2I and PD-L1, and UBE2I overexpression rescued the LJZ-mediated effects on NF-κB and PD-L1. CONCLUSIONS miR-122-3p targets UBE2I, thereby suppressing the NF-κB signaling cascade and downregulating PD-L1 expression, which potentiates anti-tumor immune responses. LJZ bolsters anti-tumor immunity by modulating the miR-122-3p/UBE2I/NF-κB/PD-L1 axis in liver cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhenhui Guo
- Research Centre of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Yiqi Wang
- Research Centre of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Wanting Qin
- Department of Diagnostics of Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Yin Heng
- Guangzhou Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Guangzhou Eighth People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510080, China
| | - Xi Chen
- Research Centre of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Na Liu
- Research Centre of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Jinzhe Li
- Department of Diagnostics of Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Haitao Wu
- Science and Technology Innovation Center, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510405, China
| | - Ying Zhou
- Research Centre of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China
| | - Ren Zhang
- Research Centre of Basic Integrative Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
| | - Shanshan Song
- Integrated Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510315, China.
| | - Zheli Wu
- Department of Diagnostics of Chinese Medicine, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
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Degerstedt O, O'Callaghan P, Clavero AL, Gråsjö J, Eriksson O, Sjögren E, Hansson P, Heindryckx F, Kreuger J, Lennernäs H. Quantitative imaging of doxorubicin diffusion and cellular uptake in biomimetic gels with human liver tumor cells. Drug Deliv Transl Res 2024; 14:970-983. [PMID: 37824040 DOI: 10.1007/s13346-023-01445-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
Novel tumor-on-a-chip approaches are increasingly used to investigate tumor progression and potential treatment options. To improve the effect of any cancer treatment it is important to have an in depth understanding of drug diffusion, penetration through the tumor extracellular matrix and cellular uptake. In this study, we have developed a miniaturized chip where drug diffusion and cellular uptake in different hydrogel environments can be quantified at high resolution using live imaging. Diffusion of doxorubicin was reduced in a biomimetic hydrogel mimicking tissue properties of cirrhotic liver and early stage hepatocellular carcinoma (373 ± 108 µm2/s) as compared to an agarose gel (501 ± 77 µm2/s, p = 0.019). The diffusion was further lowered to 256 ± 30 µm2/s (p = 0.028) by preparing the biomimetic gel in cell media instead of phosphate buffered saline. The addition of liver tumor cells (Huh7 or HepG2) to the gel, at two different densities, did not significantly influence drug diffusion. Clinically relevant and quantifiable doxorubicin concentration gradients (1-20 µM) were established in the chip within one hour. Intracellular increases in doxorubicin fluorescence correlated with decreasing fluorescence of the DNA-binding stain Hoechst 33342 and based on the quantified intracellular uptake of doxorubicin an apparent cell permeability (9.00 ± 0.74 × 10-4 µm/s for HepG2) was determined. Finally, the data derived from the in vitro model were applied to a spatio-temporal tissue concentration model to evaluate the potential clinical impact of a cirrhotic extracellular matrix on doxorubicin diffusion and tumor cell uptake.
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Affiliation(s)
- Oliver Degerstedt
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Paul O'Callaghan
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Ada Lerma Clavero
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Johan Gråsjö
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Olle Eriksson
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Erik Sjögren
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Per Hansson
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Femke Heindryckx
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Johan Kreuger
- Department of Medical Cell Biology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Hans Lennernäs
- Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
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Deng R, Zhu Y, Liu K, Zhang Q, Hu S, Wang M, Zhang Y. Genetic loss of Nrf1 and Nrf2 leads to distinct metabolism reprogramming of HepG2 cells by opposing regulation of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signalling pathway. Bioorg Chem 2024; 145:107212. [PMID: 38377819 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2024.107212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2023] [Revised: 02/10/2024] [Accepted: 02/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/22/2024]
Abstract
As a vital hallmarker of cancer, the metabolic reprogramming has been shown to play a pivotal role in tumour occurrence, metastasis and drug resistance. Amongst a vast variety of signalling molecules and metabolic enzymes involved in the regulation of cancer metabolism, two key transcription factors Nrf1 and Nrf2 are required for redox signal transduction and metabolic homeostasis. However, the regulatory effects of Nrf1 and Nrf2 (both encoded by Nfe2l1 and Nfe2l2, respectively) on the metabolic reprogramming of hepatocellular carcinoma cells have been not well understood to date. Here, we found that the genetic deletion of Nrf1 and Nrf2 from HepG2 cells resulted in distinct metabolic reprogramming. Loss of Nrf1α led to enhanced glycolysis, reduced mitochondrial oxygen consumption, enhanced gluconeogenesis and activation of the pentose phosphate pathway in the hepatocellular carcinoma cells. By striking contrast, loss of Nrf2 attenuated the glycolysis and gluconeogenesis pathways, but with not any significant effects on the pentose phosphate pathway. Moreover, knockout of Nrf1α also caused fat deposition and increased amino acid synthesis and transport, especially serine synthesis, whilst Nrf2 deficiency did not cause fat deposition, but attenuated amino acid synthesis and transport. Further experiments revealed that such distinctive metabolic programming of between Nrf1α-/- and Nrf2-/- resulted from substantial activation of the PI3K-AKT-mTOR signalling pathway upon the loss of Nrf1, leading to increased expression of critical genes for the glucose uptake, glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and the de novo lipid synthesis, whereas deficiency of Nrf2 resulted in the opposite phenomenon by inhibiting the PI3K-AKT-mTOR pathway. Altogether, these provide a novel insight into the cancer metabolic reprogramming and guide the exploration of a new strategy for targeted cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rongzhen Deng
- Bioengineering College and Graduate School, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China; Chongqing University Jiangjin Hospital, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, No. 725 Jiangzhou Avenue, Dingshan Street, Jiangjin District, Chongqing 402260, China; The Laboratory of Cell Biochemistry and Topogenetic Regulation, College of Bioengineering and Faculty of Medical Sciences, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Yuping Zhu
- The Laboratory of Cell Biochemistry and Topogenetic Regulation, College of Bioengineering and Faculty of Medical Sciences, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China; school of Basic Medicine, Guizhou Medical University, No. 6 Aokang Avenue, Gui'an New District, Guizhou 561113, China
| | - Keli Liu
- Bioengineering College and Graduate School, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China; Chongqing University Jiangjin Hospital, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, No. 725 Jiangzhou Avenue, Dingshan Street, Jiangjin District, Chongqing 402260, China; The Laboratory of Cell Biochemistry and Topogenetic Regulation, College of Bioengineering and Faculty of Medical Sciences, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Qun Zhang
- Bioengineering College and Graduate School, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China; Chongqing University Jiangjin Hospital, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, No. 725 Jiangzhou Avenue, Dingshan Street, Jiangjin District, Chongqing 402260, China; The Laboratory of Cell Biochemistry and Topogenetic Regulation, College of Bioengineering and Faculty of Medical Sciences, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Shaofan Hu
- Bioengineering College and Graduate School, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China; Chongqing University Jiangjin Hospital, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, No. 725 Jiangzhou Avenue, Dingshan Street, Jiangjin District, Chongqing 402260, China; The Laboratory of Cell Biochemistry and Topogenetic Regulation, College of Bioengineering and Faculty of Medical Sciences, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Meng Wang
- Bioengineering College and Graduate School, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China
| | - Yiguo Zhang
- Chongqing University Jiangjin Hospital, School of Medicine, Chongqing University, No. 725 Jiangzhou Avenue, Dingshan Street, Jiangjin District, Chongqing 402260, China; The Laboratory of Cell Biochemistry and Topogenetic Regulation, College of Bioengineering and Faculty of Medical Sciences, Chongqing University, No. 174 Shazheng Street, Shapingba District, Chongqing 400044, China.
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Pinto E, Meneghel P, Farinati F, Russo FP, Pelizzaro F, Gambato M. Efficacy of immunotherapy in hepatocellular carcinoma: Does liver disease etiology have a role? Dig Liver Dis 2024; 56:579-588. [PMID: 37758610 DOI: 10.1016/j.dld.2023.08.062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2023] [Revised: 08/18/2023] [Accepted: 08/30/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023]
Abstract
The systemic treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is changing rapidly. After a decade of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), as the only therapeutic option for the treatment of advanced HCC, in the last few years several phase III trials demonstrated the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). The combination of the anti-PD-L1 atezolizumab and the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) bevacizumab demonstrated the superiority over sorafenib and currently represents the standard of care treatment for advanced HCC. In addition, the combination of durvalumab (an anti-PD-L1) and tremelimumab (an anti-CTLA4) proved to be superior to sorafenib, and in the same trial durvalumab monotherapy showed non-inferiority compared to sorafenib. However, early reports suggest an influence of HCC etiology in modulating the response to these drugs. In particular, a lower effectiveness of ICIs has been suggested in patients with non-viral HCC (in particular non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). Nevertheless, randomized controlled trials available to date have not been stratified for etiology and data suggesting a possible impact of etiology in the outcome of patients managed with ICIs derive from subgroup not pre-specified analyses. In this review, we aim to examine the potential impact of HCC etiology on the response to immunotherapy regimens for HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elisa Pinto
- Gastroenterology and Multivisceral Transplant Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
| | - Paola Meneghel
- Gastroenterology and Multivisceral Transplant Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
| | - Fabio Farinati
- Gastroenterology and Multivisceral Transplant Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
| | - Francesco Paolo Russo
- Gastroenterology and Multivisceral Transplant Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy.
| | - Filippo Pelizzaro
- Gastroenterology and Multivisceral Transplant Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy
| | - Martina Gambato
- Gastroenterology and Multivisceral Transplant Unit, Padua University Hospital, Padua, Italy.
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Zhou X, Wu D, Mi T, Li R, Guo T, Li W. Icaritin activates p53 and inhibits aerobic glycolysis in liver cancer cells. Chem Biol Interact 2024; 392:110926. [PMID: 38431053 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbi.2024.110926] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2023] [Revised: 01/23/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/05/2024]
Abstract
Metabolic reprogramming enables cancer cells to generate energy mainly through aerobic glycolysis, which is achieved by increasing the expression levels of glycolysis-related enzymes. Therefore, the development of drugs targeting aerobic glycolysis could be an effective strategy for cancer treatment. Icaritin (ICT) is an active ingredient from the Chinese herbal plant Epimedium with several biological activities, but its anti-cancer mechanism remains inconclusive. Using normal hepatocytes and hepatoma cells, our results showed that ICT suppressed cell proliferation and clonal formation and decreased glucose consumption and lactate production in liver cancer cells. In consistent, the mRNA and protein levels of several aerobic glycolysis-related genes were decreased upon ICT treatment. Furthermore, our results demonstrated that the expression levels of the aerobic glycolysis-related proteins were correlated with the p53 status in hepatoma cells. Using PFT-α or siRNA-p53, our results confirmed that ICT regulated aerobic glycolysis in a p53-dependent manner. In addition, ICT was found to stabilize p53 at the post-translational level which might be mediated by inhibiting MDM2 expression and affecting its interaction with p53. Finally, our results demonstrated that ICT increased the levels of ROS that activated p53 via the p38 MAPK pathway. In conclusion, ICT increased intracellular ROS levels in liver cancer cells, which promoted the stabilization and activation of p53, inhibiting the expression of aerobic glycolysis-related genes and glycolysis, and ultimately leading to the suppression of liver cancer development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangyang Zhou
- College of Basic Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China; Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis Mechanism and Control of Inflammatory-autoimmune Diseases in Hebei Province, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China; State Key Laboratory of New Pharmaceutical Preparations and Excipients, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China
| | - Di Wu
- College of Basic Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China; Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis Mechanism and Control of Inflammatory-autoimmune Diseases in Hebei Province, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China; State Key Laboratory of New Pharmaceutical Preparations and Excipients, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China
| | - Tian Mi
- College of Basic Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China; Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis Mechanism and Control of Inflammatory-autoimmune Diseases in Hebei Province, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China; State Key Laboratory of New Pharmaceutical Preparations and Excipients, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China
| | - Ruohan Li
- College of Basic Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China
| | - Tao Guo
- College of Basic Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China; Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis Mechanism and Control of Inflammatory-autoimmune Diseases in Hebei Province, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China; State Key Laboratory of New Pharmaceutical Preparations and Excipients, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China.
| | - Wenjuan Li
- College of Basic Medicine, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China; Key Laboratory of Pathogenesis Mechanism and Control of Inflammatory-autoimmune Diseases in Hebei Province, Hebei University, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China; State Key Laboratory of New Pharmaceutical Preparations and Excipients, Baoding, Hebei, 071000, China.
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Wan G, Zhang Z, Chen J, Li M, Li J. GenX caused liver injury and potential hepatocellular carcinoma of mice via drinking water even at environmental concentration. Environ Pollut 2024; 346:123574. [PMID: 38365076 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2024.123574] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Revised: 02/06/2024] [Accepted: 02/13/2024] [Indexed: 02/18/2024]
Abstract
Hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (GenX) is an alternative to perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), whose environmental concentration is close to its maximum allowable value established by the US Environmental Protection Agency, so its effects on human health are of great concern. The liver is one of the most crucial target organ for GenX, but whether GenX exposure induces liver cancer still unclear. In this research project, male C57 mice were disposed to GenX in drinking water at environmental concentrations (0.1 and 10 μg/L) and higher concentrations (1 and 100 mg/L) for 14 weeks to explore its effects on liver injury and potential carcinogenicity in mice. GenX was found to cause a dose-dependent increase in the serum levels of alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), total cholesterol (TC), and triglyceride (TG). As the content of GenX in drinking water increased, so did the concentrations of Glypican-3 (GPC-3) and detachment gamma-carboxyprothrombin (DCP), indicators of early hepatocellular cancer. GenX destroyed the boundaries and arrangements of hepatocytes, in which monocyte infiltration, balloon-like transformation, and obvious lipid vacuoles were observed between cells. Following exposure to GenX, Masson sections revealed a significant quantity of collagen deposition in the liver. Alpha-feto protein (AFP), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), Ki67, matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP-2) and matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9) gene expression increased in a dose-dependent manner in the treatment group relative to the control group. In general, drinking water GenX exposure induced liver function impairment, elevated blood lipid level, caused liver pathological structure damage and liver fibrosis lesions, changed the liver inflammatory microenvironment, and increased the concentration of liver-related tumor indicator even in the environmental concentration, suggesting GenX is a potential carcinogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guojun Wan
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, MOE Key Laboratory of Geriatric Diseases and Immunology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China
| | - Zengli Zhang
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, MOE Key Laboratory of Geriatric Diseases and Immunology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China
| | - Jingsi Chen
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, MOE Key Laboratory of Geriatric Diseases and Immunology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China
| | - Mei Li
- School of Civil Engineering, Suzhou University of Science and Technology, 215011, China
| | - Jiafu Li
- Department of Occupational and Environmental Health, School of Public Health, MOE Key Laboratory of Geriatric Diseases and Immunology, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215123, China.
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Huang DQ, Tran S, Barnett S, Zou B, Yeo YH, Cheung R, Nguyen MH. Incidence and predictors of hepatocellular carcinoma in NAFLD without diagnosed cirrhosis: a nationwide real-world U.S. study. Hepatol Int 2024; 18:540-549. [PMID: 38079023 DOI: 10.1007/s12072-023-10616-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Accepted: 11/05/2023] [Indexed: 04/14/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND A substantial proportion of patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) do not have cirrhosis. Data regarding the incidence and predictors of HCC development in NAFLD without cirrhosis are limited. We conducted a large, national study of NAFLD patients without documented cirrhosis to examine the incidence and predictors for HCC development. METHODS This retrospective study included 751,603 NAFLD patients (54% female) without documented cirrhosis derived from the deidentified Optum Clinformatics® Data Mart Database. Patients with cirrhosis, platelets < 120,000/µL or FIB-4 values > 2.67 were excluded. RESULTS The mean age was 53.7 ± 15.0 years, 45.9% were male, 39.5% had diabetes, 57.6% were White, 18.4% Hispanic, 8.2% Black and 4.9% were Asian. The mean platelet count was 264,000 ± 72,000/µL, and 96.3% of patients had a FIB-4 < 1.30. Over 1,686,607 person-years of follow-up, there were 76 incident cases of HCC, resulting in an HCC incidence rate of 0.05 per 1000 person-years. There was a higher HCC incidence rate among patients with platelets ≤ 150,000/µL, versus those with platelets > 150,000/µL (0.23 per 1000 person-years, vs. 0.04 per 1000 person-years, p = 0.02) but not in subgroup analyses for age, sex, race/ethnicity or diabetes. Using multivariable Cox proportional hazards model adjusted multiple confounders, platelet count ≤ 150,000/µL remained an independent predictor of HCC development (adjusted HR 5.80, 95% CI 1.67-20.1, p = 0.006). CONCLUSION HCC incidence in NAFLD without documented cirrhosis was below the threshold for cost-effective HCC surveillance in overall and multiple subgroup analyses. Platelet count < 150,000/µL may be a useful predictor of HCC development in this population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Q Huang
- Department of Medicine, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore
| | - Sally Tran
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University Medical Center, 780 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA
| | - Scott Barnett
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University Medical Center, 780 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA
| | - Biyao Zou
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University Medical Center, 780 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA
| | - Yee Hui Yeo
- Division of General Internal Medicine, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Ramsey Cheung
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University Medical Center, 780 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Healthcare System, Palo Alto, CA, USA
| | - Mindie H Nguyen
- Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Stanford University Medical Center, 780 Welch Road, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA.
- Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA, USA.
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Wen J, Xue L, Wei Y, Liang J, Jia W, Yong T, Chu L, Li H, Han S, Liao J, Chen Z, Liu Y, Liu Q, Ding Z, Liang H, Gan L, Chen X, Huang Z, Zhang B. YTHDF2 Is a Therapeutic Target for HCC by Suppressing Immune Evasion and Angiogenesis Through ETV5/PD-L1/VEGFA Axis. Adv Sci (Weinh) 2024; 11:e2307242. [PMID: 38247171 PMCID: PMC10987122 DOI: 10.1002/advs.202307242] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification orchestrates cancer formation and progression by affecting the tumor microenvironment (TME). For hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), immune evasion and angiogenesis are characteristic features of its TME. The role of YTH N6-methyladenosine RNA binding protein 2 (YTHDF2), as an m6A reader, in regulating HCC TME are not fully understood. Herein, it is discovered that trimethylated histone H3 lysine 4 and H3 lysine 27 acetylation modification in the promoter region of YTHDF2 enhanced its expression in HCC, and upregulated YTHDF2 in HCC predicted a worse prognosis. Animal experiments demonstrated that Ythdf2 depletion inhibited spontaneous HCC formation, while its overexpression promoted xenografted HCC progression. Mechanistically, YTHDF2 recognized the m6A modification in the 5'-untranslational region of ETS variant transcription factor 5 (ETV5) mRNA and recruited eukaryotic translation initiation factor 3 subunit B to facilitate its translation. Elevated ETV5 expression induced the transcription of programmed death ligand-1 and vascular endothelial growth factor A, thereby promoting HCC immune evasion and angiogenesis. Targeting YTHDF2 via small interference RNA-containing aptamer/liposomes successfully both inhibited HCC immune evasion and angiogenesis. Together, this findings reveal the potential application of YTHDF2 in HCC prognosis and targeted treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingyuan Wen
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Lin Xue
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Yi Wei
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Junnan Liang
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Wenlong Jia
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Tuying Yong
- National Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine College of Life Science and TechnologyHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430074China
| | - Liang Chu
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Han Li
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Shenqi Han
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Jingyu Liao
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Zeyu Chen
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Yiyang Liu
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Qiumeng Liu
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Zeyang Ding
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Huifang Liang
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Lu Gan
- National Engineering Research Center for Nanomedicine College of Life Science and TechnologyHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430074China
| | - Xiaoping Chen
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Education; Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, National Health Commission; Key Laboratory of Organ TransplantationChinese Academy of Medical ScienceWuhan430030China
| | - Zhao Huang
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
| | - Bixiang Zhang
- Hepatic Surgery Center, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Clinical Medical Research Center of Hepatic Surgery at Hubei ProvinceWuhan430030China
- Hubei Key Laboratory of Hepato‐Pancreatic‐Biliary Diseases, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical CollegeHuazhong University of Science and TechnologyWuhan430030China
- Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, Ministry of Education; Key Laboratory of Organ Transplantation, National Health Commission; Key Laboratory of Organ TransplantationChinese Academy of Medical ScienceWuhan430030China
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Kondili LA, Lazarus JV, Jepsen P, Murray F, Schattenberg JM, Korenjak M, Craxì L, Buti M. Inequities in primary liver cancer in Europe: The state of play. J Hepatol 2024; 80:645-660. [PMID: 38237866 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhep.2023.12.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Revised: 12/01/2023] [Accepted: 12/11/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2024]
Abstract
Given the increasing burden of liver cancer in Europe, it is crucial to investigate how social determinants of health (SDoH) affect liver cancer risk factors and access to care in order to improve health outcomes equitably. This paper summarises the available evidence on the differential distribution of liver cancer risk factors, incidence, and health outcomes in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom from an SDoH perspective. Vulnerable and marginalised populations have low socio-economic and educational levels and are the most affected by liver cancer risk factors. Reasons for this include varied access to hepatitis B virus vaccination and limited access to viral hepatitis B and C screening, harm reduction, and treatment. Additionally, alcohol-related liver disease remains highly prevalent among individuals with low education, insecure employment, economic instability, migrants, and deprived populations. Moreover, significant variation exists across Europe in the proportion of adults with steatotic liver disease, overweight/obesity, and diabetes, based on geographical area, gender, socio-economic and educational background, and density of ultra-processed food outlets. Inequities in cirrhosis mortality rates have been reported, with the highest death rates among individuals living in socio-economically disadvantaged areas and those with lower educational levels. Furthermore, insufficient healthcare access for key populations with primary liver cancer is influenced by complex healthcare systems, stigmatisation, discrimination, low education, language barriers, and fear of disclosure. These challenges contribute to inequities in liver cancer care pathways. Future studies are needed to explore the different SDoH-interlinked effects on liver cancer incidence and outcomes in European countries. The ultimate goal is to develop evidence-based multilevel public health interventions that reduce the SDoH impact in precipitating and perpetuating the disproportionate burden of liver cancer in specific populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Loreta A Kondili
- National Centre for Global Health, Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Rome, Italy, UniCamillus International Medical University, Rome, Italy
| | - Jeffrey V Lazarus
- CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), New York, NY, USA; Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), Hospital Clínic, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Peter Jepsen
- Department of Hepatology and Gastroenterology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Frank Murray
- Beaumont Private Clinic, Beaumont, Dublin 9, Ireland
| | - Jörn M Schattenberg
- Department of Internal Medicine II, Saarland University Medical Center, Homburg and Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany
| | | | - Lucia Craxì
- Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience, and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy
| | - Maria Buti
- Liver Unit, Hospital Universitario Vall d'Hebrón, Vall d'Hebron Barcelona Hospital Campus, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Hepáticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
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Chen YQ, Man ZS, Zheng L, Zhang Y, Zhao CW, Ma YT, Zhou J, Wang P, Yu Y, Gu F, Niu GP. Tumor cell-derived LC3B +extracellular vesicles mediate the crosstalk between tumor microenvironment and immunotherapy efficacy in hepatocellular carcinoma via the HSP90α-IL-6/IL-8 signaling axis. Clin Immunol 2024; 261:109925. [PMID: 38310993 DOI: 10.1016/j.clim.2024.109925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2023] [Revised: 01/17/2024] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/06/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Inflammatory factors are being recognized as critical modulators of host antitumor immunity in liver cancer. We have previously shown that tumor cell-released LC3B positive extracellular vesicles (LC3B+ EVs) are responsible for malignant progression by dampening antitumor immunity. However, the relationship between LC3B+ EVs and inflammatory factors in the regulation of the liver cancer microenvironment remains unclear. METHODS Flow cytometry analyses were performed to examine the panel of 12 cytokines, the main source of positive cytokines, and plasma LC3B+ EVs carrying HSP90α in peripheral blood of liver cancer patients. We correlated the levels of plasma IL-6, IL-8 with LC3B+ EVs carrying HSP90α and with prognosis. In vitro culture of healthy donor leukocytes with liver cancer-derived LC3B+ EVs was performed to evaluate the potential effect of blocking HSP90α, IL-6 or IL-8 alone or in combination with PD-1 inhibitor on CD8+ T cell function. We also investigated the potential associations of MAP1LC3B, HSP90AA1, IL6 or IL8 with immunotherapy efficacy using the TCGA databases. RESULTS In liver cancer patients, plasma IL-6 and IL-8 levels were significantly higher than in healthy controls and associated with poor clinical outcome. In peripheral blood, levels of plasma LC3B+ EVs carrying HSP90α were significantly elevated in HCC patients and positively associated with IL-6 and IL-8 levels, which are predominantly secreted by monocytes and neutrophils. Moreover, LC3B+ EVs from human liver cancer cells promoted the secretion of IL-6 and IL-8 by leukocytes through HSP90α. Besides, we show that the cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 secreted by LC3B+ EVs-induced leukocytes were involved in the inhibition of CD8+ T-cell function, while blockade of the HSP90α on the LC3B+ EVs, IL-6, or IL-8 could enhance anti-PD-1-induced T cell reinvigoration. Finally, patients who received anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immunotherapy with high MAP1LC3B, HSP90AA1, IL6, or IL8 expression had a lower immunotherapy efficacy. CONCLUSIONS Our data suggest that liver cancer-derived LC3B+ EVs promote a pro-oncogenic inflammatory microenvironment by carrying membrane-bound HSP90α. Targeting HSP90α on the LC3B+ EVs, IL-6, or IL-8 may synergize with anti-PD-1 treatment to enhance the CD8+ T-cell functions, which may provide novel combination strategies in the clinic for the treatment of liver cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yong-Qiang Chen
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Institute of Medical Science, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China.
| | - Zhong-Song Man
- Department of General Surgery, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China
| | - Lu Zheng
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Institute of Medical Science, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China
| | - Yue Zhang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Institute of Medical Science, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China
| | - Cheng-Wen Zhao
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Institute of Medical Science, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China
| | - Yu-Ting Ma
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Institute of Medical Science, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China
| | - Juan Zhou
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Institute of Medical Science, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China
| | - Peng Wang
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Institute of Medical Science, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China
| | - Yang Yu
- Department of Medical Oncology, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China
| | - Feng Gu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Institute of Medical Science, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China.
| | - Guo-Ping Niu
- Department of Clinical Laboratory, Xuzhou Institute of Medical Science, Xuzhou Central Hospital, Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province 221009, China.
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Newhook TE, Tsai S, Meric-Bernstam F. Precision Oncology in Hepatopancreatobiliary Cancer Surgery. Surg Oncol Clin N Am 2024; 33:343-367. [PMID: 38401914 DOI: 10.1016/j.soc.2023.12.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/26/2024]
Abstract
Advances in technology have allowed for the characterization of tumors at the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic levels. There are well-established targets for biliary tract cancers, with exciting new targets emerging in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and potential targets in hepatocellular carcinoma. Taken together, these data suggest an important role for molecular profiling for personalizing cancer therapy in advanced disease and need for design of novel neoadjuvant studies to leverage these novel therapeutics perioperatively in the surgical patient.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy E Newhook
- Department of Surgical Oncology, Division of Surgery, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, TX 77030, USA
| | - Susan Tsai
- Division of Surgical Oncology, Department of Surgery, Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, N924 Doan Hall, 410 West 10th Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA
| | - Funda Meric-Bernstam
- Department of Investigational Cancer Therapeutics, Division of Cancer Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1400 Holcombe Boulevard, FC8.3044, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
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Ren X, Wang X, Song H, Zhang C, Yuan J, He J, Li J, Wang Z. Long non-coding RNA LINC01554 overexpression suppresses viability, migration, and invasion of liver cancer cells through regulating miR-148b-3p/EIF4E3. Heliyon 2024; 10:e27319. [PMID: 38501022 PMCID: PMC10945188 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2023] [Revised: 02/27/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/20/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can be severed as competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNAs) to regulate target genes or mRNAs via sponging microRNAs (miRNAs). This study explored the effect of LINC01554 on liver cancer cells through the ceRNA mechanism. Methods Five significantly down-regulated lncRNAs were selected for further verification, and then through bioinformatics, interactive miRNAs and mRNAs of lncRNAs were identified. The relationship between LINC01554, miR-148b-3p and EIF4E3 was detected by the dual luciferase reporter gene assay. Afterwards, HCCLM3 cells were transfected with pCDH-LINC01554, miR-148b-3p inhibitor and miR-148b-3p mimics. Cell viability, apoptosis, migration and invasion were measured by Cell Counting Kit-8, flow cytometer, and Transwell assays. Real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and Western blot were used to measure the expressions of related genes and proteins. Results LINC01554 was significantly down-regulated in the liver cancer cell lines, and was expressed in the cytoplasm of HCCLM3 cells. LINC01554 overexpression inhibited proliferation, migration, and invasion of HCCLM3 cells, and promote their apoptosis (P < 0.05). Besides, LINC01554 overexpression also significantly increased the levels of BAX, BCL2/BAX, P53, cleaved-Caspase3, TIMP3, E-cadherin and EIF4E3 (P < 0.05). Through bioinformatics and dual-luciferase reporter gene assay, LINC01554, miR-148b-3p and EIF4E3 were proved to interact with each other. Furthermore, the effects of miR-148b-3p knockdown on HCCLM3 cells were similar with those of LINC01554 overexpression, and miR-148b-3p mimics could reverse the changes of cell viability, apoptosis, migration, and invasion induced by LINC01554 overexpression. Conclusions LINC01554 overexpression could suppress the growth and metastasis of HCCLM3 cells via miR-148b-3p/EIF4E3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaojing Ren
- Radiological & Environment Medicine Dept, China Institute for Radiation Protection, Taiyuan, 030032, China
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030032, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Wang
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030032, China
| | - Huangqin Song
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030032, China
| | - Chao Zhang
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030032, China
| | - Junlong Yuan
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030032, China
| | - Jiefeng He
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030032, China
| | - Jianguo Li
- Radiological & Environment Medicine Dept, China Institute for Radiation Protection, Taiyuan, 030032, China
| | - Zhuangqiang Wang
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Shanxi Bethune Hospital, Shanxi Academy of Medical Sciences, Tongji Shanxi Hospital, Third Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, 030032, China
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Jiang X, Liu Z, Wan R, Cai R, Yang J, Li L, Hu H, Ou L, Zhang C, Liu Q. Research trends and hotspots of polyphyllin in high-incidence cancers: A bibliometric analysis. Heliyon 2024; 10:e27804. [PMID: 38510037 PMCID: PMC10950667 DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e27804] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/02/2024] [Revised: 02/26/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Polyphyllin, a natural compound derived primarily from the Paris genus, manifests its anticancer properties. Extensive research on its therapeutic potential in cancers has been reported. However, there is no systematical analysis of the general aspects of research on polyphyllin by bibliometric analysis. The aim of this study is to visualize emerging trends and hotspots and predict potential research directions in this field. Methods In this study, we collected relevant research articles from the Web of Science Core Collection Bibliometrics. Using R-bibliometrix, we analyzed the research status, hotspots, frontiers, and development trends of polyphyllin in high-incidence cancers. To conduct a comprehensive visual analysis, CiteSpace and VOSviewer were used for visual analysis of authors, countries, institutions, keywords, and co-cited references within the published articles. Results A total of 257 articles focusing on the research of polyphyllin in high-incidence cancers were retrieved from the WOSCC database, covering the period from 2005 to 2023. The analysis revealed a consistent increasing trend in annual publications during this timeframe. Notably, China emerged as the most productive country, with Tianjin University leading the institutions. The Journal of Ethnopharmacology stood out as the most prominent journal in this field, while Gao WY emerged as the most prolific author. Polyphyllin VI, polyphyllin II, and polyphyllin VII have emerged as the latest research hotspots. Additionally, the investigation of autophagy and its associated mechanisms has gained significant attention as a novel research direction. Conclusion This study presents a novel visualization of the research on polyphyllin saponins in the field of highly prevalent cancers using bibliometric analysis. The investigation of polyphyllin D has emerged as a primary focus in this field, with lung cancer, breast cancer, and liver cancer being the key areas of current research. Lastly, polyphyllin saponins show potential application in the field of cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Jiang
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
| | - Zhen Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
| | - Runlan Wan
- Department of Oncology, The Affiliated Hospital of Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, Sichuan, 646000, China
| | - Renming Cai
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
| | - Jiaxin Yang
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
| | - Linfeng Li
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
| | - Huiling Hu
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
| | - Lilan Ou
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
- Key Laboratory of Luzhou City for Aging Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
| | - Chun Zhang
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
- Key Laboratory of Luzhou City for Aging Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
| | - Qiuyu Liu
- School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, 646000, China
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Yin KL, Chu KJ, Li M, Duan YX, Yu YX, Kang MQ, Fu D, Liao R. Immune Regulatory Networks and Therapy of γδ T Cells in Liver Cancer: Recent Trends and Advancements. J Clin Transl Hepatol 2024; 12:287-297. [PMID: 38426194 PMCID: PMC10899867 DOI: 10.14218/jcth.2023.00355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 03/02/2024] Open
Abstract
The roles of γδ T cells in liver cancer, especially in the potential function of immunotherapy due to their direct cytotoxic effects on tumor cells and secretion of important cytokines and chemokines, have aroused research interest. This review briefly describes the basic characteristics of γδ T cells, focusing on their diverse effects on liver cancer. In particular, different subtypes of γδ T cells have diverse or even opposite effects on liver cancer. We provide a detailed description of the immune regulatory network of γδ T cells in liver cancer from two aspects: immune components and nonimmune components. The interactions between various components in this immune regulatory network are dynamic and pluralistic, ultimately determining the biological effects of γδ T cells in liver cancer. We also integrate the current knowledge of γδ T-cell immunotherapy for liver cancer treatment, emphasizing the potential of these cells in liver cancer immunotherapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kun-Li Yin
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Kai-Jian Chu
- Biliary Surgical Department I, the Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgical Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Ming Li
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yu-Xin Duan
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Yan-Xi Yu
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Mei-Qing Kang
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
| | - Da Fu
- General Surgery, Institute of Pancreatic Diseases, Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China
| | - Rui Liao
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, China
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Ju MD, Qin Q, Li M. Whole-process case management effects on mental state and self-care ability in patients with liver cancer. World J Gastrointest Surg 2024; 16:833-841. [PMID: 38577082 PMCID: PMC10989342 DOI: 10.4240/wjgs.v16.i3.833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2023] [Revised: 12/22/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Regarding the incidence of malignant tumors in China, the incidence of liver cancer ranks fourth, second only to lung, gastric, and esophageal cancers. The case fatality rate ranks third after lung and cervical cancer. In a previous study, the whole-process management model was applied to patients with breast cancer, which effectively reduced their negative emotions and improved treatment adherence and nursing satisfaction. AIM To explore Mental state and self-care ability in patients with liver cancer: effects of whole-process case management. METHODS In this single-center, randomized, controlled study, 60 randomly selected patients with liver cancer who had been admitted to our hospital from January 2021 to January 2022 were randomly divided into an observation group (n = 30), who received whole-process case management on the basis of routine nursing measures, and a control group (n = 30), who were given routine nursing measures. We compared differences between the two groups in terms of anxiety, depression, the level of hope, self-care ability, symptom distress, sleep quality, and quality of life. RESULTS Post-intervention, Hamilton anxiety scale, Hamilton depression scale, memory symptom assessment scale, and Pittsburgh sleep quality index scores in both groups were lower than those pre-intervention, and the observation group had lower scores than the control group (P < 0.05). Herth hope index, self-care ability assessment scale-revision in Chinese, and quality of life measurement scale for patients with liver cancer scores in both groups were higher than those pre-intervention, with higher scores in the observation group compared with the control group (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Whole-process case management can effectively reduce anxiety and depression in patients with liver cancer, alleviate symptoms and problems, and improve the level of hope, self-care ability, sleep quality, and quality of life, as well as provide feasible nursing alternatives for patients with liver cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Man-Di Ju
- Department of Internal Medicine of Abdominal Oncology, Hubei Cancer Hospital, Wuhan 430070, Hubei Province, China
| | - Qin Qin
- Department of Hepatological Surgery, Wuhan No. 1 Hospital, Wuhan 430000, Hubei Province, China
| | - Meng Li
- Department of Nursing, General Hospital of the Yangtze River Shipping, Wuhan 430014, Hubei Province, China
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Kaneko T, Makishima H, Wakatsuki M, Hiroshima Y, Matsui T, Yasuda S, Okada NN, Nemoto K, Tsuji H, Yamada S, Miyazaki M. Carbon-ion radiotherapy for hepatocellular carcinoma with major vascular invasion: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Cancer 2024; 24:383. [PMID: 38532338 DOI: 10.1186/s12885-024-12154-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Macroscopic vascular invasion (MVI) significantly impacts survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), warranting systemic therapy over locoregional therapy. Despite novel approaches, HCC with MVI has a poor prognosis compared to early-to intermediate-stage HCC. This study aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of carbon-ion radiotherapy (C-ion RT) for HCC characterized by MVI. METHODS This retrospective cohort study evaluated HCC patients with MVI treated using C-ion RT with a dose of 45.0-48.0 Gy/2 fractions or 52.8-60.0 Gy/4 fractions between 1995 and 2020 at our institution in Japan. We analyzed the prognostic factors and rates of local recurrence, survival, and adverse events. The local recurrence rate was determined using the cumulative incidence function, with death as a competing event. Survival rates were determined using the Kaplan-Meier method. The log-rank test for univariate analysis and the Cox proportional hazards model for multivariate analysis were used to compare subgroups. RESULTS In total, 76 patients with a median age of 71 years (range, 45-86 years) were evaluated. Among them, 68 had Child-Pugh grade A while eight had grade B disease. In 17 patients, the vascular tumor thrombus reached the inferior vena cava or main trunk of the portal vein. Over a median follow-up period of 27.9 months (range, 1.5-180.4 months), the 2-year overall survival, progression-free survival, and local recurrence rates were 70.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 57.7-79.4%), 32.7% (95% CI: 22.0-43.8%), and 8.9% (95% CI: 1.7-23.5%), respectively. A naïve tumor and a single lesion were significant prognostic factors for overall survival in the univariate analysis. Albumin-bilirubin grade 1 and a single lesion were independent prognostic factors in the multivariate analysis. Overall, four patients (5%) experienced grade 3 late adverse events, with no observed grade 4 or 5 acute or late adverse events. CONCLUSIONS C-ion RT for HCC with MVI showed favorable local control and survival benefits with minimal toxicity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Takashi Kaneko
- QST Hospital, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
- Department of Radiology, Division of Radiation Oncology, Yamagata University, Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan
| | - Hirokazu Makishima
- QST Hospital, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Masaru Wakatsuki
- QST Hospital, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan.
| | - Yuichi Hiroshima
- QST Hospital, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Ibaraki Prefectural Central Hospital, Ibaraki Cancer Center, Kasama, Japan
| | - Toshiaki Matsui
- QST Hospital, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Saitama Cancer Center, Saitama, Japan
| | - Shigeo Yasuda
- QST Hospital, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Chiba Rosai Hospital, Chiba, Japan
| | - Naomi Nagatake Okada
- QST Hospital, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Kenji Nemoto
- Department of Radiology, Division of Radiation Oncology, Yamagata University, Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan
| | - Hiroshi Tsuji
- QST Hospital, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Shigeru Yamada
- QST Hospital, National Institutes for Quantum Science and Technology, 4-9-1 Anagawa, Inage-Ku, Chiba, 263-8555, Japan
| | - Masaru Miyazaki
- Mita Hospital, International University of Health and Welfare, Tokyo, Japan
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Li H, Ma YP, Wang HL, Tian CJ, Guo YX, Zhang HB, Liu XM, Liu PF. Establishment of a prognosis predictive model for liver cancer based on expression of genes involved in the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway. World J Clin Oncol 2024; 15:434-446. [PMID: 38576590 PMCID: PMC10989257 DOI: 10.5306/wjco.v15.i3.434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2023] [Revised: 12/27/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway (UPP) has been proven to play important roles in cancer. AIM To investigate the prognostic significance of genes involved in the UPP and develop a predictive model for liver cancer based on the expression of these genes. METHODS In this study, UPP-related E1, E2, E3, deubiquitylating enzyme, and proteasome gene sets were obtained from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) database, aiming to screen the prognostic genes using univariate and multivariate regression analysis and develop a prognosis predictive model based on the Cancer Genome Atlas liver cancer cases. RESULTS Five genes (including autophagy related 10, proteasome 20S subunit alpha 8, proteasome 20S subunit beta 2, ubiquitin specific peptidase 17 like family member 2, and ubiquitin specific peptidase 8) were proven significantly correlated with prognosis and used to develop a prognosis predictive model for liver cancer. Among training, validation, and Gene Expression Omnibus sets, the overall survival differed significantly between the high-risk and low-risk groups. The expression of the five genes was significantly associated with immunocyte infiltration, tumor stage, and postoperative recurrence. A total of 111 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the high-risk and low-risk groups and they were enriched in 20 and 5 gene ontology and KEGG pathways. Cell division cycle 20, Kelch repeat and BTB domain containing 11, and DDB1 and CUL4 associated factor 4 like 2 were the DEGs in the E3 gene set that correlated with survival. CONCLUSION We have constructed a prognosis predictive model in patients with liver cancer, which contains five genes that associate with immunocyte infiltration, tumor stage, and postoperative recurrence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hua Li
- Department of Endoscopy, Tianjin Medical University Cancer Institute and Hospital, National Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Key Laboratory of Cancer Prevention and Therapy of Tianjin, Tianjin’s Clinical Research Center for Cancer, Tianjin 300060, China
| | - Yi-Po Ma
- Department of Critical Care Medicine, Dingzhou City People’s Hospital, Dingzhou 073000, Hebei Province, China
| | - Hai-Long Wang
- Department of Oncology, Tianjin Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated Hospital, Tianjin 300120, China
| | - Cai-Juan Tian
- Tianjin Marvel Medical Laboratory, Tianjin Marvelbio Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin 300180, China
| | - Yi-Xian Guo
- Department of Intelligent Technology, Tianjin Yunquan Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin 300381, China
| | - Hong-Bo Zhang
- Tianjin Marvel Medical Laboratory, Tianjin Marvelbio Technology Co., Ltd, Tianjin 300180, China
| | - Xiao-Min Liu
- Department of Oncology, Tianjin Huanhu Hospital, Tianjin 300350, China
| | - Peng-Fei Liu
- Department of Oncology, Tianjin Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated Hospital, Tianjin 300120, China
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Jia J, Zhou X, Chu Q. Mechanisms and therapeutic prospect of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway in liver cancer. Mol Cell Biochem 2024:10.1007/s11010-024-04983-5. [PMID: 38519710 DOI: 10.1007/s11010-024-04983-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 03/25/2024]
Abstract
Liver cancer (LC) poses a significant global health challenge due to its high incidence and poor prognosis. Current systemic treatment options, such as surgery, chemotherapy, radiofrequency ablation, and immunotherapy, have shown limited effectiveness for advanced LC patients. Moreover, owing to the heterogeneous nature of LC, it is crucial to uncover more in-depth pathogenic mechanisms and develop effective treatments to address the limitations of the existing therapeutic modalities. Increasing evidence has revealed the crucial role of the Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway in the pathogenesis of LC. The specific mechanisms driving the JAK-STAT pathway activation in LC, participate in a variety of malignant biological processes, including cell differentiation, evasion, anti-apoptosis, immune escape, and treatment resistance. Both preclinical and clinical investigations on the JAK-STAT pathway inhibitors have exhibited potential in LC treatment, thereby opening up avenues for the development of more targeted therapeutic strategies for LC. In this study, we provide an overview of the JAK-STAT pathway, delving into the composition, activation, and dynamic interplay within the pathway. Additionally, we focus on the molecular mechanisms driving the aberrant activation of the JAK-STAT pathway in LC. Furthermore, we summarize the latest advancements in targeting the JAK-STAT pathway for LC treatment. The insights presented in this review aim to underscore the necessity of research into the JAK-STAT signaling pathway as a promising avenue for LC therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- JunJun Jia
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, Department of Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, No. 79 Qingchun Road, Shangcheng District, Hangzhou, 310003, Zhejiang, China.
| | - Xuelian Zhou
- Division of Endocrinology, National Clinical Research Center for Child Health, Children's Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310003, China
| | - Qingfei Chu
- State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, National Clinical Research Center for Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
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Li JT, Zhang HM, Wang W, Wei DQ. Identification of an immune-related gene signature for predicting prognosis and immunotherapy efficacy in liver cancer via cell-cell communication. World J Gastroenterol 2024; 30:1609-1620. [PMID: 38617448 PMCID: PMC11008408 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i11.1609] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Revised: 01/09/2024] [Accepted: 03/04/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Liver cancer is one of the deadliest malignant tumors worldwide. Immunotherapy has provided hope to patients with advanced liver cancer, but only a small fraction of patients benefit from this treatment due to individual differences. Identifying immune-related gene signatures in liver cancer patients not only aids physicians in cancer diagnosis but also offers personalized treatment strategies, thereby improving patient survival rates. Although several methods have been developed to predict the prognosis and immunotherapeutic efficacy in patients with liver cancer, the impact of cell-cell interactions in the tumor microenvironment has not been adequately considered. AIM To identify immune-related gene signals for predicting liver cancer prognosis and immunotherapy efficacy. METHODS Cell grouping and cell-cell communication analysis were performed on single-cell RNA-sequencing data to identify highly active cell groups in immune-related pathways. Highly active immune cells were identified by intersecting the highly active cell groups with B cells and T cells. The significantly differentially expressed genes between highly active immune cells and other cells were subsequently selected as features, and a least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression model was constructed to screen for diagnostic-related features. Fourteen genes that were selected more than 5 times in 10 LASSO regression experiments were included in a multivariable Cox regression model. Finally, 3 genes (stathmin 1, cofilin 1, and C-C chemokine ligand 5) significantly associated with survival were identified and used to construct an immune-related gene signature. RESULTS The immune-related gene signature composed of stathmin 1, cofilin 1, and C-C chemokine ligand 5 was identified through cell-cell communication. The effectiveness of the identified gene signature was validated based on experimental results of predictive immunotherapy response, tumor mutation burden analysis, immune cell infiltration analysis, survival analysis, and expression analysis. CONCLUSION The findings suggest that the identified gene signature may contribute to a deeper understanding of the activity patterns of immune cells in the liver tumor microenvironment, providing insights for personalized treatment strategies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun-Tao Li
- College of Mathematics and Information Science, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, Henan Province, China
| | - Hong-Mei Zhang
- College of Mathematics and Information Science, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, Henan Province, China
| | - Wei Wang
- College of Computer and Information Engineering, Henan Normal University, Xinxiang 453007, Henan Province, China
| | - Dong-Qing Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, and School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
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Yang LM, Wang HJ, Li SL, Gan GH, Deng WW, Chang YS, Zhang LF. Efficacy of radiofrequency ablation combined with sorafenib for treating liver cancer complicated with portal hypertension and prognostic factors. World J Gastroenterol 2024; 30:1533-1544. [PMID: 38617449 PMCID: PMC11008421 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v30.i11.1533] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2024] [Revised: 02/18/2024] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Patients with liver cancer complicated by portal hypertension present complex challenges in treatment. AIM To evaluate the efficacy of radiofrequency ablation in combination with sorafenib for improving liver function and its impact on the prognosis of patients with this condition. METHODS Data from 100 patients with liver cancer complicated with portal hypertension from May 2014 to March 2019 were analyzed and divided into a study group (n = 50) and a control group (n = 50) according to the treatment regimen. The research group received radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in combination with sorafenib, and the control group only received RFA. The short-term efficacy of both the research and control groups was observed. Liver function and portal hypertension were compared before and after treatment. Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), glypican-3 (GPC-3), and AFP-L3 levels were compared between the two groups prior to and after treatment. The occurrence of adverse reactions in both groups was observed. The 3-year survival rate was compared between the two groups. Basic data were compared between the survival and non-surviving groups. To identify the independent risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with liver cancer complicated by portal hypertension, multivariate logistic regression analysis was employed. RESULTS When comparing the two groups, the research group's total effective rate (82.00%) was significantly greater than that of the control group (56.00%; P < 0.05). Following treatment, alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels increased, and portal vein pressure decreased in both groups. The degree of improvement for every index was substantially greater in the research group than in the control group (P < 0.05). Following treatment, the AFP, GPC-3, and AFP-L3 levels in both groups decreased, with the research group having significantly lower levels than the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence of diarrhea, rash, nausea and vomiting, and fatigue in the research group was significantly greater than that in the control group (P < 0.05). The 1-, 2-, and 3-year survival rates of the research group (94.00%, 84.00%, and 72.00%, respectively) were significantly greater than those of the control group (80.00%, 64.00%, and 40.00%, respectively; P < 0.05). Significant differences were observed between the survival group and the non-surviving group in terms of Child-Pugh grade, history of hepatitis, number of tumors, tumor size, use of sorafenib, stage of liver cancer, histological differentiation, history of splenectomy and other basic data (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that high Child-Pugh grade, tumor size (6-10 cm), history of hepatitis, no use of sorafenib, liver cancer stage IIIC, and previous splenectomy were independent risk factors for poor prognosis in patients with liver cancer complicated with portal hypertension (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Patients suffering from liver cancer complicated by portal hypertension benefit from the combination of RFA and sorafenib therapy because it effectively restores liver function and increases survival rates. The prognosis of patients suffering from liver cancer complicated by portal hypertension is strongly associated with factors such as high Child-Pugh grade, tumor size (6-10 cm), history of hepatitis, lack of sorafenib use, liver cancer at stage IIIC, and prior splenectomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Li-Min Yang
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China
| | - Hong-Juan Wang
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China
| | - Shan-Lin Li
- Department of Gastroenterology, Zhoukou Central Hospital of Henan Province, Zhoukou 466000, Henan Province, China
| | - Guan-Hua Gan
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China
| | - Wen-Wen Deng
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China
| | - Yong-Sheng Chang
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinxiang Medical College, Xinxiang 453000, Henan Province, China
| | - Lian-Feng Zhang
- Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, Henan Province, China
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Song MF, Ma LY, Shen C, Zhao Q, Zhao CY. [ Liver cancer treatment with mitochondrial homeostasis]. Zhonghua Gan Zang Bing Za Zhi 2024; 32:257-261. [PMID: 38584111 DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.cn501113-20231107-00175] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/09/2024]
Abstract
Systemic treatment, including molecular targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and chemotherapy, is an important means of achieving long-term survival in patients with intermediate-and advanced-stage liver cancer. However, some patients are insensitive to treatment and even develop drug resistance. Mitochondria are the center of cellular energy metabolism and, at the same time, are the priority targets for systemic therapy. Mitochondrial homeostasis plays an important role in the treatment of liver cancer. The relationship between the two advances is elucidated so as to provide better ideas for the clinical treatment of liver cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- M F Song
- Department of Infectious Disease, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050051, China
| | - L Y Ma
- Department of Infectious Disease, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050051, China
| | - C Shen
- Department of Infectious Disease, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050051, China
| | - Q Zhao
- Quality Management and Control Office, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050051, China
| | - C Y Zhao
- Department of Infectious Disease, the Third Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang 050051, China
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