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©The Author(s) 2018. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Sep 7, 2018; 24(33): 3695-3708
Published online Sep 7, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i33.3695
Published online Sep 7, 2018. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v24.i33.3695
Updates on the hepatocyte growth factor/c-Met axis in hepatocellular carcinoma and its therapeutic implications
Javier A García-Vilas, Department of Pediatrics, University of Alberta, Edmonton T6G 2S2, Canada
Miguel Ángel Medina, Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Andalucía Tech, Universidad de Málaga, Málaga 29071, Spain
Miguel Ángel Medina, Unidad 741 de CIBER “de Enfermedades Raras” (CIBERER), Málaga 29071, Spain
Miguel Ángel Medina, Institute of Biomedical Research in Málaga, Málaga 29071, Spain
Author contributions: Both authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the version.
Supported by grants BIO2014-56092-R (MINECO and FEDER) , No. P12-CTS-1507 (Andalusian Government and FEDER) ; and funds from group BIO-267 (Andalusian Government). The “CIBER de Enfermedades Raras” is an initiative from the ISCIII (Spain) .
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: 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/
Correspondence to: Miguel Ángel Medina, PhD, Full Professor, Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Facultad de Ciencias, Andalucía Tech, Universidad de Málaga, Boulevar Louis Pasteur 31, Málaga 29010, Spain. medina@uma.es
Telephone: +34-952-137132
Received: May 3, 2018
Peer-review started: May 4, 2018
First decision: May 16, 2018
Revised: June 28, 2018
Accepted: July 16, 2018
Article in press: July 16, 2018
Published online: September 7, 2018
Processing time: 125 Days and 18.2 Hours
Peer-review started: May 4, 2018
First decision: May 16, 2018
Revised: June 28, 2018
Accepted: July 16, 2018
Article in press: July 16, 2018
Published online: September 7, 2018
Processing time: 125 Days and 18.2 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a tumor usually arising from previous hepatic diseases as cirrhosis and chronic hepatitis B and C infections. Several studies have shown that a key factor for HCC oncogenesis is chronic inflammation. Inflammation induces changes in the gene expression pattern in surrounding cells. These changes provide an environment with a high level of cytokines, promoting hepatocyte transformation to tumor cells. New therapies against HCC are focused on regulating stromal cells within the tumor microenvironment to avoid HCC progression.