Devan AR, Pavithran K, Nair B, Murali M, Nath LR. Deciphering the role of transforming growth factor-beta 1 as a diagnostic-prognostic-therapeutic candidate against hepatocellular carcinoma. World J Gastroenterol 2022; 28(36): 5250-5264 [PMID: 36185626 DOI: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i36.5250]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Lekshmi R Nath, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacognosy, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS Health Science Campus, Ponekkara, Kochi 682041, Kerala, India. lekshmirnath@aims.amrita.edu
Research Domain of This Article
Oncology
Article-Type of This Article
Review
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 28, 2022; 28(36): 5250-5264 Published online Sep 28, 2022. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v28.i36.5250
Deciphering the role of transforming growth factor-beta 1 as a diagnostic-prognostic-therapeutic candidate against hepatocellular carcinoma
Aswathy R Devan, Keechilat Pavithran, Bhagyalakshmi Nair, Maneesha Murali, Lekshmi R Nath
Aswathy R Devan, Bhagyalakshmi Nair, Maneesha Murali, Lekshmi R Nath, Department of Pharmacognosy, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS Health Science Campus, Kochi 682041, Kerala, India
Keechilat Pavithran, Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kochi 682041, Kerala, India
Author contributions: Nath LR conceptualized, designed the review content and revised the draft; Devan AR wrote the draft; Pavithran K revised and proofread; Nair B and Murali M collected the data; and all authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported bythe Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham SEED grant (K-PHAR-22-662).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Lekshmi R Nath, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacognosy, Amrita School of Pharmacy, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, AIMS Health Science Campus, Ponekkara, Kochi 682041, Kerala, India. lekshmirnath@aims.amrita.edu
Received: March 9, 2022 Peer-review started: March 9, 2022 First decision: April 11, 2022 Revised: April 30, 2022 Accepted: August 16, 2022 Article in press: August 16, 2022 Published online: September 28, 2022 Processing time: 197 Days and 22 Hours
Abstract
Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) is a multifunctional cytokine that performs a dual role as a tumor suppressor and tumor promoter during cancer progression. Among different ligands of the TGF-β family, TGF-β1 modulates most of its biological outcomes. Despite the abundant expression of TGF-β1 in the liver, steatosis to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression triggers elevated TGF-β1 levels, contributing to poor prognosis and survival. Additionally, elevated TGF-β1 levels in the tumor microenvironment create an immunosuppressive stage via various mechanisms. TGF-β1 has a prime role as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in HCC. Moreover, TGF-β1 is widely studied as a therapeutic target either as monotherapy or combined with immune checkpoint inhibitors. This review provides clinical relevance and up-to-date information regarding the potential of TGF-β1 in diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy against HCC.
Core Tip: Transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-β1) exhibits a progressive elevation throughout hepatic dysfunction starting from hepatitis to hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) as an inflammatory cytokine, pro-fibrogenic marker, immunosuppressive agent and pro-carcinogenic growth factor. Aberrant TGF-β1 activation in HCC is associated with poor prognosis and survival. TGF-β1 mediated immunosuppression disturbs the anticancer surveillance and the efficacy of the immunotherapeutic agent. This pleiotropic effect of TGF-β1 in the context of HCC makes it ideal as a diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic candidate in HCC.
