Hydrogen sulfide and its donors: Novel antitumor and antimetastatic agents for liver cancer.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the sixth most frequent human cancer and the world's third most significant cause of cancer mortality. HCC treatment has recently improved, but its mortality continues to increase worldwide due to its extremely complicated and heterogeneous genetic abnormalities. After nitric oxide (NO) and carbon monoxide (CO), the third gas signaling molecule discovered is hydrogen sulfide (HS), which has long been thought to be a toxic gas. However, numerous studies have proven that HS plays many pathophysiological roles in mammals. Endogenous or exogenous HS can decrease cell proliferation, promote apoptosis, block cell cycle, invasion and migration through various cellular signaling pathways. This review analyzes and discusses the recent literature on the function and molecular mechanism of HS and HS donors in HCC, so as to provide convenience for the scientific research and clinical application of HS in the treatment of liver cancer.