Targeting CD73 limits tumor progression and enhances anti-tumor activity of anti-PD-1 therapy in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

Background & Aims: Patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) respond poorly to immune checkpoint blockades (ICBs). In this study, we aimed to dissect the potential mechanisms underlying poor response to ICBs and explore a rational ICB-based combination therapy in iCCA.

Methods: scRNA-seq dataset GSE151530 was analyzed to investigate the differentially expressed genes in malignant cells following ICBs therapy.

CBX1 is involved in hepatocellular carcinoma progression and resistance to sorafenib and lenvatinib via IGF-1R/AKT/SNAIL signaling pathway.

Background: Chromobox Homolog 1 (CBX1) plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of numerous diseases, including the evolution and advancement of diverse cancers. The role of CBX1 in pan-cancer and its mechanism in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), however, remains to be further investigated.

Methods: Bioinformatics approaches were harnessed to scrutinize CBX1's expression profile, its association with tumor staging, and its potential impact on patient outcomes across various cancers.

Tumor Radiomic Features on Pretreatment MRI to Predict Response to Lenvatinib plus an Anti-PD-1 Antibody in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma: A Multicenter Study.

Introduction: Lenvatinib plus an anti-PD-1 antibody has shown promising antitumor effects in patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but with clinical benefit limited to a subset of patients. We developed and validated a radiomic-based model to predict objective response to this combination therapy in advanced HCC patients.

Methods: Patients ( = 170) who received first-line combination therapy with lenvatinib plus an anti-PD-1 antibody were retrospectively enrolled from 9 Chinese centers; 124 and 46 into the training and validation cohorts, respectively.

A novel myeloid cell marker genes related signature can indicate immune infiltration and predict prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: Integrated analysis of bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing.

Myeloid cells are physiologically related to innate immunity and inflammation. Tumor-associated myeloid cells gained increasing interest because of their critical roles in tumor progression and anticancer immune responses in human malignancies. However, the associations between tumor-associated myeloid cell-related genes and hepatocellular carcinoma have yet to be revealed.

Hepatic stellate cells promote intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma progression via NR4A2/osteopontin/Wnt signaling axis.

Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a highly fatal malignancy characterized by a vast amount of intra-tumoral fibroblasts. These fibroblasts are potentially implicated in maintaining the high aggressiveness of ICC, whereas its pro-cancer mechanisms remain scarcely reported. Here, by establishing co-culture models of ICC cells and hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), we identified that HSCs triggered the expression of nuclear receptor family 4 subgroup A member 2 (NR4A2), a transcription factor previously reported as a molecular switch between inflammation and cancer, in ICC cells.

Development and preliminary verification of the evaluation system for clinical practice guidelines in China.

Objective: Clinical practice guidelines can improve healthcare processes and patient outcomes; however, the quality of these guidelines varies greatly in China. The aim of this study was to construct a comprehensive instrument for the appraisal of clinical practice guidelines in China (AGREE-CHINA), and to validate its reliability as a tool for helping potential guideline users in assessing guideline quality.

Methods: First, an interdisciplinary working group was established for developing the methods.

A new prediction model for prognosis of patients with intermediate-stage HCC after conventional transarterial chemoembolization: an internally validated study.

: The prognosis of patients with intermediate-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated by conventional TACE (cTACE) is greatly heterogeneous. This study aimed to develop a new survival prediction model to help select patients who would benefit better from cTACE treatment. : We collected data of 848 treatment-naïve patients with BCLC B HCC who received cTACE as first-line therapy.

HHLA2 in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: an immune checkpoint with prognostic significance and wider expression compared with PD-L1.

Background: Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is a highly mortal malignancy with limited therapeutic options. Immunotherapies targeting PD-1/PD-L1 pathway represent a promising treatment for ICC. However, PD-L1 expression and microsatellite instability are not common in ICC.

High expression of Oct4 and Nanog predict poor prognosis in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma patients after curative resection.

Oct4 and Nanog are reported to promote tumor progression in several cancers, but the effect on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is unknown. The aim of our present study was to explore the prognostic role of Oct4 and Nanog on patients with ICC. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the expression of Oct4 and Nanog in a random cohort of 116 ICC patients, and validated in another independent cohort of 103 patients.

Prognostic Nomogram Based on Histological Characteristics of Fibrotic Tumor Stroma in Patients Who Underwent Curative Resection for Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Fibrotic tumor stroma (FTS) has been implicated in cancer promotion in several neoplasms. The histological features of FTS are convenient and easily accessible in clinical routine in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) specimens. The goal of this study was to explore prognostic impacts of the quantity and maturity of FTS on surgical ICC patients.

S100A11 promotes cell proliferation via P38/MAPK signaling pathway in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma.

S100A11 is reported to associate with progression and poor prognosis in several tumors. We previously reported that S100A11 was highly expressed in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) cells and promoted TGF-β1-induced EMT through SMAD2/3 signaling pathway. Here, we explored the prognostic role of S100A11 on ICC patients and preliminary molecular mechanisms how S100A11 regulated ICC cell proliferation.

Overexpression of interleukin-35 in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma is a prognostic indicator after curative resection.

Interleukin-35 (IL-35) is implicated in tumorigenesis, but its exact impact on intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) is not clear. The aim of the present study was to explore the specific effect of IL-35 on patient prognosis. Additionally, we formulated an effective prognostic nomogram for ICC patients after curative resection.

ID1 promotes hepatocellular carcinoma proliferation and confers chemoresistance to oxaliplatin by activating pentose phosphate pathway.

Background: Drug resistance is one of the major concerns in the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of the present study was to determine whether aberrant high expression of the inhibitor of differentiation 1(ID1) confers oxaliplatin-resistance to HCC by activating the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP).

Methods: Aberrant high expression of ID1 was detected in two oxaliplatin-resistant cell lines MHCC97H-OXA(97H-OXA) and Hep3B-OXA(3B-OXA).

Prognostic nomogram for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma underwent adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization following curative resection.

Adjuvant transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is a major option for postoperative hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with recurrence risk factors. However, individualized predictive models for subgroup of these patients are limited. This study aimed to develop a prognostic nomogram for patients with HCC underwent adjuvant TACE following curative resection.

Albumin to gamma-glutamyltransferase ratio as a prognostic indicator in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma after curative resection.

The prognosis of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (ICC) remains poor whereas predictive models for survival prediction in ICC patients following curative resection are limited. Herein, we established a novel inflammation-based score derived from preoperative albumin to gamma-glutamyltransferase ratio (AGR) and evaluated its prognostic significance in ICC patients underwent curative resection. Prognostic value of AGR was retrospectively studied in a cohort comprising 206 ICC patients following curative resection.

Identification of long noncoding RNA expression profile in oxaliplatin-resistant hepatocellular carcinoma cells.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most prevalent and malignant type of liver cancer. Besides the high incidence, the resistance to chemotherapy is a major problem that leads to the high mortality of HCC. Recently, aberrant expression of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) has been considered as a primary feature of many types of cancer.

High platelet counts increase metastatic risk in huge hepatocellular carcinoma undergoing transarterial chemoembolization.

Aim: Accumulating evidence suggests platelets play critical roles in tumor metastasis. Moreover, the role of platelets in metastasis is partially correlated with inflammation. However, evidence regarding the contribution of platelets to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis is lacking.

Herbal Compound Songyou Yin and Moderate Swimming Suppress Growth and Metastasis of Liver Cancer by Enhancing Immune Function.

Objective Both the Chinese herbal compound Songyou Yin (SYY) and swimming exercise have been shown to have protective effects against liver cancer in animal models. In this study, we investigated whether SYY and moderate swimming (MS) have enhanced effect on suppressing progression of liver cancer by immunomodulation. Methods C57BL/6 mice were transplanted with Hepa1-6 murine liver cancer cell lines and received treatment with SYY alone or SYY combined with MS.

Comparison of transarterial chemoembolization with radiofrequency ablation for unresectable Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage 0/A hepatocellular carcinoma: a propensity score matching.

Background And Aim: Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is recommended as one of the standard treatments for early hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Because of high-risk tumor locations unfit for RFA, transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) is served as an alternative option in these settings. To define the role of TACE on early HCC, we retrospectively compared the efficacies of TACE with RFA in patients with unresectable Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) stage 0/A HCC.

Imbalance in systemic inflammation and immune response following transarterial chemoembolization potentially increases metastatic risk in huge hepatocellular carcinoma.

Inflammation plays a critical role in tumor metastasis. However, few inflammation-related biomarkers are currently available to predict the risk of metastasis for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Using huge tumors (diameter >10 cm) as a model, we evaluated the potential risk of pre- and post-treatment inflammatory responses in the development of metastasis of HCC patients undergoing transarterial chemoembolization (TACE).

Coexpression of gene Oct4 and Nanog initiates stem cell characteristics in hepatocellular carcinoma and promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition through activation of Stat3/Snail signaling.

Background: Oct4 and Nanog are key regulatory genes that maintain the pluripotency and self-renewal properties of embryonic stem cells. We previously reported that the two stemness markers were tightly associated with cancer progression and poor outcomes of hepatocellular carcinoma. In this study, we demonstrate that coexpression of Oct4/Nanog modulates activation of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3), an oncogenic transcription factor that is activated in many human malignancies including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), as well as the expression of Snail, a key regulator implicated in epithelial-mesenchymal transition and tumor metastasis.

Oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil hepatic infusion with lipiodolized chemoembolization in large hepatocellular carcinoma.

Aim: To investigate transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) with hepatic infusion of oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil and Lipiodol chemoembolization in large hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: In this retrospective study, 132 patients with unresectable HCCs larger than 10 cm were treated with hepatic infusion of oxaliplatin and 5-fluorouracil followed by Lipiodol chemoembolization. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS).

The platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio predicts poor survival in patients with huge hepatocellular carcinoma that received transarterial chemoembolization.

Inflammation is particularly strong in huge hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, it is unclear whether the platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), as an inflammatory-related marker, can predict survival of patients with huge HCC. In this study, we enrolled 291 patients with huge HCC (diameter over 10 cm) who were undergoing repeated transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) at our institute.