Activation of muscarinic acetylcholine receptor 1 promotes invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Hepatocellular carcinoma is the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide. Neural regulation plays an important role in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, and activation of sympathetic nervous system can promote the migration and invasion of cancer cells. However, little research has been conducted on how the vagus nerve influences hepatocellular carcinoma.

Surrogate endpoint for overall survival in assessment of adjuvant therapies after curative treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma: a re-analysis of meta-analyses of individual patients' data.

The gold standard endpoint to evaluate the effect of treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is overall survival (OS), but it requires a longer follow-up period to observe. This study aimed to identify whether disease-free survival (DFS) could be used as a surrogate endpoint for OS to assess the efficacy of adjuvant therapies after curative treatment (surgical resection and ablation) for HCC patients. A systematic review was conducted to identify trials about curative treatment combined with or without adjuvant therapies (interferon, IFN; or transarterial chemoembolization, TACE) for HCC.

HOXB7 accelerates the malignant progression of hepatocellular carcinoma by promoting stemness and epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Background: Homeobox B7 (HOXB7) has been identified associated with poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the specific mechanism by which HOXB7 promotes the malignant progression of HCC remains to be determined.

Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) was used to detect the expression level of HOXB7 in 77-paired HCC tissue samples, and the correlation between HOXB7 and HCC prognosis was assessed.

Sympathetic nervous system promotes hepatocarcinogenesis by modulating inflammation through activation of alpha1-adrenergic receptors of Kupffer cells.

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) is known to play a significant role in tumor initiation and metastasis. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) frequently occurs in cirrhotic livers after chronic inflammation, and the SNS is hyperactive in advanced liver cirrhosis. However, it remains unclear whether the SNS promotes hepatocarcinogenesis by modulating chronic liver inflammation.

Adjuvant sorafenib after heptectomy for Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer-stage C hepatocellular carcinoma patients.

Aim: To investigate the efficacy and safety of adjuvant sorafenib after curative resection for patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC)-stage C hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Methods: Thirty-four HCC patients, classified as BCLC-stage C, received adjuvant sorafenib for high-risk of tumor recurrence after curative hepatectomy at a tertiary care university hospital. The study group was compared with a case-matched control group of 68 patients who received curative hepatectomy for HCC during the study period in a 1:2 ratio.

Complete response to sorafenib in a patient with recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma.

Partial hepatectomy is still the treatment of choice aiming at a cure for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), provided that the patient can tolerate the treatment. For patients with multiple recurrent HCC after partial hepatectomy which cannot be treated by re-hepatectomy or local ablative therapy, the prognosis is extremely poor. Sorafenib is a molecular-targeted agent which has been demonstrated in two global phase III randomized controlled trials to show survival benefit for advanced HCC.