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Molecular Pathogenesis of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Author(s) -
Cornellà Helena,
Alsinet Clara,
Villanueva Augusto
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.2010.01406.x
Subject(s) - hepatocellular carcinoma , sorafenib , pi3k/akt/mtor pathway , disease , wnt signaling pathway , pathogenesis , cancer research , genomics , medicine , molecular pathology , protein kinase b , bioinformatics , biology , gene , genome , signal transduction , genetics
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the major causes of death among cirrhotic patients, being viral hepatitis and alcohol abuse, the main risk factors for its development. The introduction of highly sophisticated genomic technologies has spurred extensive research on the molecular pathogenesis of this devastating disease. Several signaling cascades have been consistently found dysregulated in HCC (e.g., WNT‐β‐catenin, PI3K/AKT/MTOR, RAS/MAPK, IGF, HGF/MET, VEGF, EGFR, and PDGF). In addition, there have been numerous molecular classifications proposed for this disease, what provides an additional hint about its genomic complexity. The importance of knowing the molecular drivers of HCC is underscored by the positive results of a molecular targeted agent, sorafenib, able to improve survival in patients with advanced disease. This review will briefly outline key concepts in alcohol‐related hepatocarcinogenesis, and provide some insight regarding current trends in translating HCC genomics into clinical management of the disease.