Yao M, Yang JL, Wang DF, Wang L, Chen Y, Yao DF. Encouraging specific biomarkers-based therapeutic strategies for hepatocellular carcinoma. World J Clin Cases 2022; 10(11): 3321-3333 [PMID: 35611205 DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i11.3321]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Deng-Fu Yao, MD, PhD, Director, Full Professor, Research Center of Clinical Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, No. 20 West Temple Road, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China. yaodf@ahnmc.com
Research Domain of This Article
Gastroenterology & Hepatology
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 Clin Cases. Apr 16, 2022; 10(11): 3321-3333 Published online Apr 16, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i11.3321
Encouraging specific biomarkers-based therapeutic strategies for hepatocellular carcinoma
Min Yao, Jun-Ling Yang, De-Feng Wang, Li Wang, Ying Chen, Deng-Fu Yao
Min Yao, Research Center of Clinical Medicine & Department of Immunology, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China
Jun-Ling Yang, De-Feng Wang, Deng-Fu Yao, Research Center of Clinical Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China
Li Wang, Department of Medical Informatics, Medical School of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China
Ying Chen, Department of Oncology, Affiliated Second Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Yao M, Yang JL, and Wang DF contributed equally to this work and wrote the first draft of the paper; Wang L and Chen Y performed the literature search for the manuscript; Yao M and Yao DF revised the manuscript and edited all drafts of the paper; all authors approved the final version of the manuscript.
Supported bythe National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 84673241, No. 81873915 and No. 31872738; and Nantong S&T Development Plan, No. MS12020021, and No. MS12019016.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors report no conflicts of interest.
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: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Deng-Fu Yao, MD, PhD, Director, Full Professor, Research Center of Clinical Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, No. 20 West Temple Road, Nantong 226001, Jiangsu Province, China. yaodf@ahnmc.com
Received: March 19, 2021 Peer-review started: March 19, 2021 First decision: May 1, 2021 Revised: May 10, 2021 Accepted: May 25, 2021 Article in press: May 25, 2021 Published online: April 16, 2022
Abstract
The prevention, early discovery and effective treatment of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remain a global medical challenge. At present, HCC is still mainly treated by surgery, supplemented by vascular embolization, radio frequency, radiotherapy, chemotherapy and biotherapy. The application of multikinase inhibitor sorafenib, chimeric antigen receptor T cells, or PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors can prolong the median survival of HCC patients. However, the treatment efficacy is still unsatisfactory due to HCC metastasis and postoperative recurrence. During the process of hepatocyte malignant transformation, HCC tissues can express and secrete many types of specific biomarkers, or oncogenic antigen molecules into blood, for example, alpha-fetoprotein, glypican-3, Wnt3a (one of the key signaling molecules in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway), insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-II or IGF-I receptor, vascular endothelial growth factor, secretory clusterin and so on. In addition, combining immunotherapy with non-coding RNAs might improve anti-cancer efficacy. These biomarkers not only contribute to HCC diagnosis or prognosis, but may also become molecular targets for HCC therapy under developing or clinical trials. This article reviews the progress in emerging biomarkers in basic research or clinical trials for HCC immunotherapy.
Core Tip: Tissues in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) or hepatocyte malignant transformation can express and secrete a variety of molecules such as specific biomarkers or oncogenic antigens into blood. These biomarkers not only contribute to the diagnosis or prognosis of HCC, but may also become molecular targets for HCC therapy under developing or clinical trials. This article reviews the recent novel progress of some emerging biomarkers in basic studies or clinical trials for HCC immunotherapy.
