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©The Author(s) 2015. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Pharmacol. Mar 9, 2015; 4(1): 96-116
Published online Mar 9, 2015. doi: 10.5497/wjp.v4.i1.96
Published online Mar 9, 2015. doi: 10.5497/wjp.v4.i1.96
Hepatocellular carcinoma and multidrug resistance: Past, present and new challenges for therapy improvement
María L Cuestas, José R Oubiña, Verónica L Mathet, Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica (IMPaM, UBA-CONICET), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Paraguay 2155, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Author contributions: Cuestas ML, Oubiña JR and Mathet VL contributed to this paper.
Conflict-of-interest: The authors declare no competing financial interests.
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: Verónica L Mathet, PhD, Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica (IMPaM, UBA-CONICET), Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires-Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, piso 11 (C1121ABG), Paraguay 2155, Buenos Aires, Argentina. vmathet@yahoo.com
Telephone: +54-11-59509500 Fax: +54-11-49642554
Received: July 29, 2014
Peer-review started: July 29, 2014
First decision: September 18, 2014
Revised: November 13, 2014
Accepted: November 27, 2014
Article in press: December 1, 2014
Published online: March 9, 2015
Processing time: 226 Days and 15.7 Hours
Peer-review started: July 29, 2014
First decision: September 18, 2014
Revised: November 13, 2014
Accepted: November 27, 2014
Article in press: December 1, 2014
Published online: March 9, 2015
Processing time: 226 Days and 15.7 Hours
Core Tip
Core tip: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most frequent malignancy of the liver. Despite the advances in early detection and treatment, this disorder still has a poor prognosis. This manuscript reviews the ongoing knowledge regarding the etiology and molecular mechanisms implicated in HCC development and the therapeutic strategies for the management of this malignancy. Finally, the development of effective delivery systems of antitumor drugs able to target the liver parenchyma as well as the prospects in the development of a more efficient drug therapy to overcome multidrug resistance are also examined.