Metroticket approach in a retrospective cohort study to predict overall survival after surgical resection for hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Surgical resection is a curative therapy for early-stage hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients meeting the Milan criteria as well as a widely used therapy in intermediate-stage HCC. However, intermediate-stage HCC encompasses a wide spectrum of disease and there is a lack of good predictive models for the long-term clinical outcome of HCC patients currently. Here, the authors adopt Mazzaferro's Metroticket 2.

Extending Surgical Resection for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Beyond Barcelona Clinic for Liver Cancer (BCLC) Stage A: A Novel Application of the Modified BCLC Staging System.

Objective: We aimed to prognosticate survival after surgical resection of HCC stratified by stage with amalgamation of the modified Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system and location of tumour.

Methods: This single-institutional retrospective cohort study included patients with HCC who underwent surgical resection between 1st January 2000 to 30th June 2016. Participants were divided into 6 different subgroups: A-u) Within MC with Unilobar lesions; A-b) Within MC + Bilobar lesions; B1-u) Out of MC + within Up-To-7 + Unilobar lesions; B1-b) Out of MC + within Up-to-7 + Bilobar lesions; B2-u) Out of MC + Out of Up-To-7 + Unilobar lesions; B2-b) Out of MC + Out of Up-To-7 + Bilobar lesions.

EDIL3 is a novel regulator of epithelial-mesenchymal transition controlling early recurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background & Aims: Patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) continue to have a dismal prognosis. Early recurrence, metastases and angiogenesis are the major obstacles to improve the outcome of HCC. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key contributor to cancer metastasis and recurrence, which are the major obstacles to improve prognosis of HCC.

The over-expression of survivin enhances the chemotherapeutic efficacy of YM155 in human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. The inability of chemotherapeutic drugs to selectively target HCC tumor cells because of their predominant resistant phenotype to most conventional anticancer agents bestows a major obstacle for the clinical management of HCC. In this report, we have examined and demonstrated the remarkable heterogeneity of expression of survivin and its phosphorylated active form (p-survivin) in HCC patients' tissues and cell lines.

MicroRNA-216a/217-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition targets PTEN and SMAD7 to promote drug resistance and recurrence of liver cancer.

Unlabelled: Tumor recurrence and metastases are the major obstacles to improving the prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To identify novel risk factors associated with HCC recurrence and metastases, we have established a panel of recurrence-associated microRNAs (miRNAs) by comparing miRNA expression in recurrent and nonrecurrent human HCC tissue samples using microarrays (recurrence is defined as recurrent disease occurring within a 2-year time point of the original treatment). Among the panel, expression of the miR-216a/217 cluster was consistently and significantly up-regulated in HCC tissue samples and cell lines associated with early tumor recurrence, poor disease-free survival, and an epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) phenotype.

MiR-214 targets β-catenin pathway to suppress invasion, stem-like traits and recurrence of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

The down-regulation of miR-214 has previously been observed in human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Here, we demonstrated the down-regulation of miR-214 is associated with cell invasion, stem-like traits and early recurrence of HCC. Firstly, we validated the suppression of miR-214 in human HCC by real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) in 20 paired tumor and non-tumor liver tissues of HCC patients and 10 histologically normal liver tissues from colorectal cancer patients with liver metastases.

Chemokine-driven lymphocyte infiltration: an early intratumoural event determining long-term survival in resectable hepatocellular carcinoma.

Objective: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a heterogeneous disease with poor prognosis and limited methods for predicting patient survival. The nature of the immune cells that infiltrate tumours is known to impact clinical outcome. However, the molecular events that regulate this infiltration require further understanding.

Upregulation of Rac GTPase-activating protein 1 is significantly associated with the early recurrence of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: To assess the significance of Rac GTPase-activating protein 1 (RACGAP1) expression in identifying HBV-positive human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who are at high risk for recurrent disease.

Experimental Design: The prognostic significance of RACGAP1 was compared with clinicopathologic parameters available at diagnosis using multivariate and log-rank test. RACGAP1 expression and outcome in recurrence was compared between 35 patients with recurrence and 41 patients without recurrence using Kaplan-Meier analysis.

Transcriptional down-regulation of IGFBP-3 in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells is mediated by the binding of TIA-1 to its AT-rich element in the 3'-untranslated region.

Insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3) plays key roles in regulating cell growth, differentiation, and apoptosis in a variety of cellular systems. We have observed significant down-regulation of IGFBP-3 expression in primary human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) tissues when compared to adjacent histologically normal tissues. In this study, we functionally mapped the entire 3'-UTR of the IGFBP-3 mRNA, spanning 1471 nt and identified a 210 bp fragment consisting of AT-rich elements at the distal downstream region preceding the consensus pre-mRNA polyadenylation signal that provide high affinity binding for TIA-1 to mediate the specific suppression of IGFBP-3 expression in human HCC cells.

Cystic neoplasms of the pancreas: current diagnostic modalities and management.

Cystic neoplasm of the pancreas is a relatively uncommon condition covering a wide spectrum of pathology. The increasing incidence as a result of routine imaging tests in asymptomatic patients presents a diagnostic and therapeutic problem to the clinician. This paper discusses the role of the various investigative modalities in the management of cystic neoplasia of the pancreas.

Modulation of iron-regulatory genes in human hepatocellular carcinoma and its physiological consequences.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) commonly develops in patients with underlying chronic liver disease. Additionally, the tumorous lesions of HCC patients are consistently characterized by the lack of iron accumulation even when arising in iron-loaded liver. However, the molecular mechanism leading to this observed phenomenon is currently poorly understood.

Identification and validation of a novel gene signature associated with the recurrence of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

Purpose: To improve the clinical management of human hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) by accurate identification, at diagnosis, of patients at risk of recurrence after primary treatment for HCC.

Experimental Design: Two clinicopathologic variables available at diagnosis, vascular invasion and cirrhosis, together with molecular profiling using Affymetrix human HG-U133A and HG-U133B oligonucleotide probe arrays, were used to identify recurrent HCC disease.

Results: HCC patients presented clinically at diagnosis with vascular invasion and cirrhosis showed a high rate (78-83%) of developing recurrent disease within 6 to 35 months.

Image-guided radiofrequency ablation of liver malignancies: experience at Singapore General Hospital.

Unlabelled: The aim of this paper was to study the efficacy, side effects and complications of radiofrequency (RF) ablation of primary and metastatic liver malignancies.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 57 patients (39 men, 18 women; mean age, 63 years; age range, 44 to 83 years) who underwent RF ablation for liver malignancies from January 2002 to December 2004. A total of 87 tumours were ablated - 71 (81.

Infected pancreatic necrosis--an evaluation of the timing and technique of necrosectomy in a Southeast Asian population.

Introduction: Acute pancreatitis appears to be less prevalent in multi-ethnic Southeast Asia, where the aetiology also appears to be influenced by ethnicity. As with acute pancreatitis elsewhere, however, pancreatic necrosis is a cause of significant mortality and the aim of this study was to review our institutional experience with pancreatic necrosectomy.

Materials And Methods: The records of all patients who underwent pancreatic necrosectomy from January 2000 to December 2004 were analysed.

Cloning and identification of hepatocellular carcinoma down-regulated mitochondrial carrier protein, a novel liver-specific uncoupling protein.

We report the identification of a novel cDNA fragment that shows significantly reduced expression in cancerous tissue compared with paired non-cancerous liver tissue in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The full-length transcript of 1733 bp encodes a protein of 308 amino acids that has all the hallmark features of mitochondrial carrier proteins. We designate the novel protein as HDMCP (HCC-down-regulated mitochondrial carrier protein).

Results of resections for hepatocellular carcinoma in a new hepatobiliary unit.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fourth commonest cancer in Singapore. Surgical resection offers the only chance of "cure". Resection tends to be difficult in HCC because of late presentation and concomitant liver cirrhosis.