An Oxidative Stress-Related Prognostic Signature Predicts Treatment Response and Outcomes for Hepatocellular Carcinoma After Transarterial Chemoembolization.

Purpose: Oxidative stress plays a critical role in promoting tumor resistance to hypoxia and chemotherapeutic drugs. However, the prognostic role of oxidative stress-related genes (OSRGs) in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) treated with transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) has not been fully explored.

Methods: We used transcriptome data from the GSE104580 cohort containing patients marked as responders or nonresponders to TACE therapy to identify differentially expressed OSRGs associated with TACE response (TR-OSRGs).

Immune checkpoint inhibitors and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor antibody/tyrosine kinase inhibitors with or without transarterial chemoembolization as first-line treatment for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (CHANCE2201): a target trial emulation study.

Background: The role of transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) in the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is unconfirmed. This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) plus anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) antibody/tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) with or without TACE as first-line treatment for advanced HCC.

Methods: This nationwide, multicenter, retrospective cohort study included advanced HCC patients receiving either TACE with ICIs plus anti-VEGF antibody/TKIs (TACE-ICI-VEGF) or only ICIs plus anti-VEGF antibody/TKIs (ICI-VEGF) from January 2018 to December 2022.

Proteomic and metabolomic features in patients with HCC responding to lenvatinib and anti-PD1 therapy.

Combination therapy (lenvatinib/programmed death-1 inhibitor) is effective for treating unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma (uHCC). We reveal that responders have better overall and progression-free survival, as well as high tumor mutation burden and special somatic variants. We analyze the proteome and metabolome of 82 plasma samples from patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC; n = 51) and normal controls (n = 15), revealing that individual differences outweigh treatment differences.

Antinuclear antibody (ANA) status predicts immune-related adverse events in liver cancer patients undergoing anti-PD-1 therapy.

Immune-related adverse events (irAEs) clinically resemble autoimmune diseases, indicating autoantibodies could be potential biomarkers for the prediction of irAEs. This study aimed to assess the predictive value of peripheral blood antinuclear antibody (ANA) status for irAEs, considering the time and severity of irAEs, as well as treatment outcome in liver cancer patients administered anti-PD-1 therapy. Ninety-three patients with advanced primary liver cancer administered anti-PD-1 treatment were analyzed retrospectively.

A Novel Thoracoabdominal Aorta CTA-based Nomogram Model to Identify Ideal Candidates for Transradial Approach Chemoembolization in Patients with Liver Cancer.

High technical complexity limits the wide use of transradial approach (TRA) chemoembolization in the management of liver cancer. We sought to construct a thoracoabdominal aorta CTA-based nomogram model to identify ideal candidates for TRA chemoembolization in patients with liver cancer. Patients who had received thoracoabdominal aorta CTA before TRA chemoembolization from 2018 to 2020 were retrospectively enrolled and randomly divided into a training set and a validation set.

An SCD1-dependent mechanoresponsive pathway promotes HCC invasion and metastasis through lipid metabolic reprogramming.

Matrix stiffness promotes hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) metastasis. This study examined the contribution of lipid metabolic reprogramming to matrix stiffness-induced HCC metastasis. HCC cells were cultured on mechanically tunable polyacrylamide gels and subjected to lipidomic analysis.

Development of a Prognostic Scoring System for Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients With Main Portal Vein Tumor Thrombus Undergoing Conventional Transarterial Chemoembolization: An Analysis of 173 Patients.

Background: Patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with main portal vein tumor thrombus (mPVTT) have poor prognosis. Promising systemic therapies, such as target therapies, have limited benefits. The purpose of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the benefits of conventional TACE (c-TACE) and to establish a prognostic stratification of HCC patients with mPVTT.

Prognostic significance of preoperative systemic immune-inflammation index in combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Inflammation-based prognostic scores have been increasingly used for prognosis prediction in malignant tumors. However, no existing study has comprehensively evaluated these scores in combined hepatocellular-cholangiocarcinoma (cHCC-CCA).

Objective: This study aimed to identify a robust inflammation-based prognostic predictor for cHCC-CCA.

Hepatic Arterial Infusion Chemotherapy with Modified FOLFOX as an Alternative Treatment Option in Advanced Hepatocellular Carcinoma Patients with Failed or Unsuitability for Transarterial Chemoembolization.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) with modified FOLFOX (5-fluorouracil, leucovorin, and oxaliplatin) as an alternative treatment option in advanced hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with failed or unsuitability for transarterial chemoembolization (TACE). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From September 2018 to January 2020, 87 advanced HCC patients who progressed on TACE or were not eligible for TACE received HAIC treatment with modified FOLFOX. The primary endpoint was overall survival (OS) and secondary endpoints included progression-free survival (PFS), tumor response assessed by Response Evaluation Criteria in Solid Tumors 1.

2019 Chinese clinical guidelines for the management of hepatocellular carcinoma: updates and insights.

Importance: Approximately half of newly-diagnosed hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cases in the world occur in China, with hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection being the predominant risk factor. Recently, the guidelines for the management of Chinese HCC patients were updated.

Objective: The past decade has witnessed a great improvement in the management of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).

Suppressing DRP1-mediated mitochondrial fission and mitophagy increases mitochondrial apoptosis of hepatocellular carcinoma cells in the setting of hypoxia.

Transarterial embolization/transarterial chemoembolization (TAE/TACE) is the acceptable palliative treatment for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), mainly through ischemic necrosis induced by arterial embolization. However, how HCC cells survive under such ischemic hypoxic condition remains unclear, which can be exploited to potentiate TAE/TACE treatment. We hypothesized that targeting mitophagy can increase HCC cell apoptosis during hypoxia.

Norepinephrine-stimulated HSCs secrete sFRP1 to promote HCC progression following chronic stress via augmentation of a Wnt16B/β-catenin positive feedback loop.

Background: Sustained adrenergic signaling secondary to chronic stress promotes cancer progression; however, the underlying mechanisms for this phenomenon remain unclear. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) frequently develops within fibrotic livers rich in activated hepatic stellate cells (HSCs). Here, we examined whether the stress hormone norepinephrine (NE) could accelerate HCC progression by modulating HSCs activities.

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.

Intermittent hypoxia alleviates increased VEGF and pro-angiogenic potential in liver cancer cells.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an important angiogenic factor. The VEGF rebound induced by hypoxia following transarterial embolization/chemoembolization for primary liver cancer is associated with treatment failure and poor survival rates in patients. The present study investigated the ability of intermittent hypoxia to alleviate the acute hypoxia-induced increase of VEGF and decrease the pro-angiogenic potential of liver cancer cells.

A new substage classification strategy for Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background And Aim: Patients with Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B hepatocellular carcinoma are a heterogeneous population, and the classifications available could not predict the prognosis accurately. Herein, we proposed a new substage classification method, Scoring Method for Intermediate Stage, for precise classification and clinical guidance in hepatocellular carcinoma patients within Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage B.

Methods: A total of 1026 stage B patients of hepatocellular carcinoma who underwent transcatheter arterial chemoembolization as a first-line treatment in Liver Cancer Institute, Zhongshan Hospital, Fudan University were retrospectively enrolled.

Identifying Clonal Origin of Multifocal Hepatocellular Carcinoma and Its Clinical Implications.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is characterized by high prevalence of multifocality. Multifocal HCC can arise synchronously or metachronously either from intrahepatic metastasis (IM) or multicentric occurrence (MO). To date, there have been no established criteria to accurately distinguish whether multifocal HCC originates from IM or MO.

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.

Extracellular matrix collagen I promotes the tumor progression of residual hepatocellular carcinoma after heat treatment.

Background: Accelerated malignant behaviors induced by insufficient thermal ablation have been increasingly reported, however, the exact mechanisms are still unclear. Here, we investigated the importance of the extracellular matrix (ECM) in modulating the progression of residual hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after heat treatment.

Methods: Heat-exposed residual HCC cells were cultured in different ECM gels.

The Rho GTPase Rnd1 inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma and is a favorable anti-metastasis target.

Rnd1, a member of Rho GTPases, was found to be downregulated in human malignancies and downregulation of Rnd1 promotes tumor invasion via various mechanisms. However, the role of Rnd1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression remains unclear. In this study, our results demonstrated that Rnd1 was downregulated in HCC cells and in human HCC tissues.

Effects of mesenchymal stem cells on solid tumor metastasis in experimental cancer models: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: It has been reported mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are recruited to and become integral parts of the tumor microenvironment. MSCs might have an active role in solid tumor progression, especially cancer metastasis. However, the contribution of MSCs in the process of cancer metastasis is still controversial.

Hepatitis B surface antigen predicts recurrence after radiofrequency ablation in patients with low hepatitis B virus loads.

Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a first-line option for the treatment of small liver cancers, but the recurrence remains a problem affecting long-term survival. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) activity is associated with the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We investigated the significance of hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) in HCC recurrence after curative RFA treatment in HBV-related small HCC.