MicroRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment: Charting the path forward

Table 1 Current understanding of pro- and anti-tumor microRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma and brief descriptions of their effects

MicroRNAs of interest in hepatocellular carcinoma
Prevents HCC	Dual influence	Promotes HCC
miR-122 - inhibits HCC growth and enhances tumor cell susceptibility to chemotherapy	miR-192 - suppresses tumor when acting on the PABPC4 and TRIP13 genes. Promotes tumor when acting on SEMA3A	miR-155 - role in promoting inflammation and tumor growth through unclear mechanisms
miR-223 - anti-inflammatory effects and role in resolution of liver fibrosis		miR-21 - stimulates cancer-associated fibroblasts
miR-335-5p - inhibition of tumor growth and invasion		miR-20a-5p - suppresses expression of tumor suppressors
miR-320a - blocks activation of MAPK pathway		miR-103 - facilitates tumor metastasis by damaging the integrity of endothelial junctions
miR-150-3p - suppresses tumor migration and invasion		miR-210 - derived from HCC cells. Promotes angiogenesis
miR-214 - suppresses angiogenesis		miR-93-5p - facilitates HCC progression via inducing immune evasion
miR-148a-3p - inhibits HCC proliferation and invasiveness		miR-107 - promotes HCC progression by increasing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (however, this notably seems to act as a tumor suppressor in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma)
		miR-4739 - associated with poor HCC prognosis. Unclear mechanism

HCC: Hepatocellular carcinoma; PABPC4: Poly-A binding protein cytoplasmic 4; TRIP13: Thyroid receptor-interacting protein 13; SEMA3A: Semaphorin 3A.