CCR6 B lymphocytes responding to tumor cell-derived CCL20 support hepatocellular carcinoma progression via enhancing angiogenesis.

Background & Aims: Different immune cells in tumor microenvironment shape tumor progression. CCL20 over-expression was reported as one of the "stemness" trait in mutated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We aimed to understand the effect of CCL20 on HCC progression.

Genetic Features of Aflatoxin-Associated Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

Background & Aims: Dietary exposure to aflatoxin is an important risk factor for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, little is known about the genomic features and mutations of aflatoxin-associated HCCs compared with HCCs not associated with aflatoxin exposure. We investigated the genetic features of aflatoxin-associated HCC that can be used to differentiate them from HCCs not associated with this carcinogen.

Efficacy of neonatal HBV vaccination on liver cancer and other liver diseases over 30-year follow-up of the Qidong hepatitis B intervention study: a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Neonatal hepatitis B vaccination has been implemented worldwide to prevent hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections. Its long-term protective efficacy on primary liver cancer (PLC) and other liver diseases has not been fully examined.

Methods And Findings: The Qidong Hepatitis B Intervention Study, a population-based, cluster randomized, controlled trial between 1985 and 1990 in Qidong, China, included 39,292 newborns who were randomly assigned to the vaccination group in which 38,366 participants completed the HBV vaccination series and 34,441 newborns who were randomly assigned to the control group in which the participants received neither a vaccine nor a placebo.

Dramatic reduction of liver cancer incidence in young adults: 28 year follow-up of etiological interventions in an endemic area of China.

Qidong City, China, has had high liver cancer incidence from endemic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and dietary exposure to aflatoxin. Based on etiologic studies, we began interventions in 1980 to reduce dietary aflatoxin and initiate neonatal HBV vaccination. We studied trends in liver cancer incidence rates in the 1.

Presence of immune memory and immunity to hepatitis B virus in adults after neonatal hepatitis B vaccination.

Neonatal vaccination against hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection was launched in the 1980s in Qidong, China, where HBV and hepatocellular carcinoma were highly prevalent. Presence of immune memory and immunity against HBV in adults needs to be clarified. From a cohort of 806 who received plasma-derived Hep-B-Vax as neonates and were consecutively followed at ages 5, 10, and 20 years, 402 twenty-four-year-old adults were recruited for booster test.

Association of TP53 mutations with stem cell-like gene expression and survival of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background & Aims: Mutations in TP53, a tumor suppressor gene, are associated with prognosis of many cancers. However, the prognostic values of TP53 mutation sites are not known for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) because of heterogeneity in their geographic and etiologic backgrounds.

Methods: TP53 mutations were investigated in a total of 409 HCC patients, including Chinese (n = 336) and white (n = 73) patients, using the direct sequencing method.

Occult HBV infection in anti-HBs-positive young adults after neonatal HB vaccination.

Previous follow-up on our neonatal HB vaccination cohorts with 80,000 individuals in Qidong, China, showed significant protective efficacy of immunization against HBV infection in childhood. However, some vaccinees were found to be HBsAg negative, but anti-HBs positive and anti-HBc positive at age 10-11 years. To study this phenomenon, 2919 vaccinees at age 19-21 years were sampled from the cohort.

[Risk features of HBV in human hepatocarcinogenesis: a nested case-controlled study].

Objective: To identify the association strength of the prevalence of HBeAg, covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA) and 1762/1764 nucleotide mutations of hepatitis B virus (HBV) with the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Qidong high risk male cohort.

Methods: A cohort of 377 middle aged HBV infected men in Qidong was followed from January 1989 to December 2002. Incident HCC cases were carefully registered.

A novel prognostic subtype of human hepatocellular carcinoma derived from hepatic progenitor cells.

The variability in the prognosis of individuals with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) suggests that HCC may comprise several distinct biological phenotypes. These phenotypes may result from activation of different oncogenic pathways during tumorigenesis and/or from a different cell of origin. Here we address whether the transcriptional characteristics of HCC can provide insight into the cellular origin of the tumor.

The molecular signature of metastases of human hepatocellular carcinoma.

The current metastasis paradigm suggests that the primary tumor starts off benign but over time slowly acquires changes that provide a few rare cells within the tumor the ability to metastasize. However, this concept has been challenged by several recent studies using the microarray-based approach. We have recently found that the molecular signature of primary hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is very similar to that of their corresponding metastases, while it differs significantly in primary HCCs with or without metastasis.

Tight association of hepatocellular carcinoma with HBV infection in North China.

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common cancer in China. Hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and HCV) and aflatoxins are known risk factors for HCC, but the etiological status of these factors in HCC development is not clear. This study was undertaken to define the absolute importance of HBV in hepatocarcinogenesis of North China.

[Suppression of c-myc expression by interference RNA in HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells].

Objective: To study the inhibitory effect of RNA interference (RNAi) on c-myc expression in hepatocellular carcinoma cell line, HepG2.

Methods: Expression vector of c-myc gene-targeting small interference RNA (siRNA) was constructed (psilencer-c-myc) and transfected into HepG2 cells by lipofectamine, and the unloaded vector was used as control (mock). The expression of c-myc mRNA and protein was identified by quantitive PCR and Western blot.

Classification and prediction of survival in hepatocellular carcinoma by gene expression profiling.

We analyzed global gene expression patterns of 91 human hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) to define the molecular characteristics of the tumors and to test the prognostic value of the expression profiles. Unsupervised classification methods revealed two distinctive subclasses of HCC that are highly associated with patient survival. This association was validated via 5 independent supervised learning methods.

Dominant role of hepatitis B virus and cofactor role of aflatoxin in hepatocarcinogenesis in Qidong, China.

We assessed the separate and combined effects of hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and aflatoxin in causing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Qidong, China. A consecutive series of 181 pathologic-diagnosed HCC cases were studied for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), anti-HBc, HBV X gene sequence, anti-HCV, the 249ser-p53 mutation, and chronic hepatitis pathology. Each of the 181 incident HCC cases had markers for HBV infection and hepatitis pathology; only 6 of 119 cases were coinfected with HCV.

Prevention and control of hepatitis B in China.

About 170 million Chinese are infected chronically with HBV and 10% suffer from chronic hepatitis. Around half a million Chinese die from hepatitis B caused hepatocellular carcinoma and endstage cirrhosis each year. From 1983 to the present, a controlled clinical trial involving 80,000 children on a universal hepatitis B vaccination programme to prevent chronic hepatitis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and endstage cirrhosis was implemented in Qidong, China.